Polymer Excipients: Unsung Heroes in Pharmaceutical Formulations – Insights from the KIAT‑CORIA G.R.I.D Webinar
On December 18, 2025, Professor You-Yeon Won presented a seminar titled “Polymer Excipients for Pharmaceutical Formulations: Unsung Heroes” as part of the KIAT‑CORIA G.R.I.D webinar series, attracting a global audience of researchers, pharmaceutical scientists, and industry professionals. The webinar highlighted the critical yet often underappreciated roles of polymer excipients in modern drug and biologic products.
Professor Won discussed super-surface-active copolymers that stabilize therapeutic proteins by controlling interfacial exposure, preventing aggregation, and improving long-term stability. He also presented sequence-tailored biodegradable polymers that enable precise control over drug release, applicable to long-acting injectables and in situ forming hydrogels.
He also discussed polymer-based lung surfactancts as a novel approach to treating acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). By engineering polymer architecture and interfacial mechanics, these materials support functional recovery in injured lungs, showing that excipients are active enablers of therapeutic performance.
Through these examples, Professor Won emphasized that polymer excipients are far more than passive additives—they are critical enablers of next-generation pharmaceuticals, linking material innovation, formulation science, and clinical outcomes.
This seminar was co-organized by Professor Martin Byung-Guk Jun, Director of CORIA, and Hwan Il Yoo, Chief representative of KIAT U.S. office. The KIAT-CORIA Webinar series connects Purdue professors with Korean academics, industry researchers, and institutions to foster joint research and networking. The seminars provide a platform for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and building partnerships to drive future technological innovation.