Evaluation of dermal adhesive formulations for topical application

Topical delivery is one of the main challenges in the pharmaceutical technology. This study aimed to synthesize a potential adhesive polymeric excipient stable enough for pronounced skin adhesiveness to pave the skin delivery pathway. Polyacrylic acid an anionic well established polymer in the pharmaceutical field was chemically modified with sulfhydryl moieties and in a second step, this sulfhydryl bearing polymer was prone to a pre-activation process. During this process, mercaptonicotinic acid was covalently bound to the sulfhydryl groups of polyacrylic acid. The obtained polymeric conjugates were characterized with respect to viscosity measurements, and evaluated in terms of skin adhesive properties with the help of tensile strength assay as well as bond strength assay. Findings exhibited promising potential of newly synthesized preactivated polyacrylic acid in terms of adhesive properties. Preactivated polyacrylic acid revealed a 15.39-fold improved adhesion compared to unmodified polymeric excipient. Therefore, the herein designed preactivated polyacrylic acid shows interesting features for skin application such as scar and wound management.