Stable Polymer Nanoparticles with Exceptionally High Drug Loading by Sequential Nanoprecipitation

Poor solubility often leads to low drug efficacy. Encapsulation of water-insoluble drugs in polymeric nanoparticles offers a solution. However, low drug loading remains a critical challenge. Now, a simple and robust sequential nanoprecipitation technology is used to produce stable drug-core polymer-shell nanoparticles with high drug loading (up to 58.5 %) from a wide range of polymers and drugs. This technology is based on tuning the precipitation time of drugs and polymers using a solvent system comprising multiple organic solvents, which allows the formation of drug nanoparticles first followed by immediate precipitation of one or two polymers. This technology offers a new strategy to manufacture polymeric nanoparticles with high drug loading having good long-term stability and programmed release and opens a unique opportunity for drug delivery applications.