Evonik unveils biodegradable Eudragit excipient platform for oral drug delivery

Biodegradable polymer platform builds on Evonik’s seven-decade track record in oral drug delivery

Evonik is creating a new biodegradable polymer platform to serve as the foundation for its next-generation EUDRAGIT functional excipients for oral drug delivery. These advanced polymers feature an environmentally friendly, biodegradable end-of-life profile while delivering performance that matches existing industry benchmarks for delayed-release coatings and solubility enhancement. At present, the material is available in non-commercial, lab-scale quantities for joint development projects with select pharmaceutical partners.

“Sustainability is becoming a design criterion in pharmaceutical development, alongside quality, efficacy and safety. With the next generation of EUDRAGIT, we are moving from measuring sustainability to actively engineering it. This opens up new possibilities for formulators to choose both functionality and a biodegradable end-of-life profile in materials they can process with the equipment and methods they already use,” said Thilo Krapfl, Head of Oral Drug Delivery Solutions at Evonik Health Care.

Biodegradable excipients are transforming pharmaceutical design by enabling companies to build sustainability directly into new drug formulations. By reducing environmental persistence without sacrificing the performance required for effective oral drug delivery, these innovative polymers offer a eco-friendly solution for modern medicine. Notably, they achieve a biodegradation rate of over 60%, meeting the strict criteria of standardized environmental testing (OECD 301 F and OECD 301 B).

EUDRAGIT polymethacrylate polymers provide versatile drug delivery solutions for a broad spectrum of pharmaceutical applications. Formulators can use these excipients alone or blended together to achieve any target release profile, from immediate to delayed release. Furthermore, specific EUDRAGIT grades effectively increase the solubility of poorly soluble drugs using standard processing technologies like hot melt extrusion and spray drying. The portfolio now includes new biodegradable options engineered to provide this same reliable, targeted performance.