Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 5, 2026

Preparation and Characterization of Individual and Multi-drug Loaded Physically Entrapped Polymeric Micelles
Published on: August 28, 2015
Formulation and evaluation of multilamellar vesicles ropivacaine in pain management
Hao-Wen Kao1, Yi-Yu Lin1, Walter J Gwathney1
1TLC Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA.
Purpose:
The improvement of postoperative pain control plays an important role in recovery outcomes and patient satisfaction. Multilamellar vesicles ropivacaine, MVR, is being developed to sustain the release of ropivacaine in situ while maintaining the local concentration of ropivacaine within the therapeutic window.
Methods:
These studies summarized the processes of MVR formulation development and the evaluation of its releasing profile in vitro and the pharmacokinetics and anesthetic effect in vivo.
Results:
The MVR demonstrates a sustained-release profile in an in vitro serum environment model after 24 hrs of incubation which translates in the in vivo rat pharmacokinetic profile of ropivacaine as a prolonged half-life that is 10-fold longer in duration than plain ropivacaine solution. The anesthetic effect of single-dose MVR is apparent by providing a prolonged analgesia effect compared to plain ropivacaine solution in an in vivo guinea pig pin-prick wheal model after a single intracutaneous injection. From a safety evaluation, MVR is well tolerated after a subcutaneously injection at a dose level of 20 mg/kg in rats, with no observable changes in clinical observation, body weight, organ weight, hematology and serum chemistry analysis.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that single administration of MVR is a promising candidate in postoperative pain management.
Related Concept Videos
Analgesia and Pain Management
Local Anesthetics: Common Agents and Their Applications
Cocaine is an ester of benzoic acid and methylecgogine. It is used to anesthetize and vasoconstrict locally. Currently, it is used primarily for topical applications. It is beneficial for surgeries on the upper respiratory tract, providing anesthesia and shrinking the mucosa. Cocaine in the form of cocaine hydrochloride is...
Opioid Analgesics: Synthetic and Semisynthetic Opioids
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Intravenous Regional Anesthesia
One of the advantages of...
Local Anesthetics: Chemistry and Structure-Activity Relationship
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Epidural Anesthesia
Since epidural anesthetics can be infused through an epidural catheter, all types of drugs, including short-acting ones, can be administered. Chloroprocaine and lidocaine are examples of short and long-duration anesthetics, respectively. Bupivacaine...

