Biodegradable Synthetic Polymer-Based Nano-Drug Delivery Systems and Their Applications in Ophthalmic Disease Treatment

Eye drops is the simplest and least invasive way to deliver drugs to ocular tissues and similar to 90% of the commercial products in the global eye medicine market are administered in this way. Nevertheless, topical application of drug molecules has low bioavailability, which greatly limits its efficacy in the eye. Drug delivery systems on the nanometer scale can effectively improve the bioavailability of drugs administered to the eye and reduce the occurrence of complications owing to their strong penetration, sustained drug release, and the reduced frequency of administration required. These Nano-drug delivery systems can be made into eye drops, injections, dry tablets, implants, gels and in situ gels. Most of the Nano-drug delivery systems have been developed using biodegradable synthetic polymers. Biodegradable synthetic polymers have been widely used as carriers in delivery systems because of their biocompatibility, absorbability, and suitable degradation rate. This article reviews the preparation and performance of nanometer drug delivery systems based on biodegradable synthetic polymers and their applications in the treatment of ocular diseases. Furthermore, we also focus on the potential challenges to the application of nanometer drug delivery systems for ocular diseases.