ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the research experience using a commercial pooled fibrin sealant (FS) as the delivery vehicle, both in vitro and in vivo, for several drugs and biologies. The use of local delivery of drugs and biologies is expected to be beneficial in clinical situations in which there is ready access to the site to be treated, in which systemic therapy is either ineffective or produces burdensome side effects, or when systemic therapy is ineffective due to dose-limiting side effects. The formulation must be implantable in a manner that renders it immobile so that the matrix cannot “wander” or be dispersed to unintended locations. One of the first applications of fibrin as a matrix for drug delivery was its use in the delivery of antibiotics. European researchers, drawing upon their clinical experience with commercial pooled FS products, reasoned that there were many situations in which it would be desirable to also deliver antibiotics locally to prevent infection.
