CONTEXT

Biomaterial  engineering has undergone an important development during the last fifteen years due to the emergence of new applications in drug delivery and tissue regeneration. These materials have evolved progressively from being bioinert, to biodegradable and now also bioactive.

Among polymers which can be used to design such materials, natural polysaccharides appear as promising candidates. They generally exhibit  good biocompatibility and biodegradability features and can additionally present biological properties. Moreover, their chemical complexity offers several possibilities in terms of structures and properties and their natural origin makes them attractive in an environmental, toxicologic and commercial point of view.

Therefore, it is particularly desirable to obtain new natural modified polymers, such as modified polysaccharides, in order to obtain components with new or improved properties like thickening or gelling ones, which can be used in cosmetic, pharmaceutical or biomedical domains.

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

The invention concerns a polysaccharide, and, in particular, an hyaluronic acid bearing a thioester functionalized alcene moity and its manufacturing process. The invention concerns also a composition including such polysaccharides.

BENEFITS

Many polysaccharides synthesis have been described in the past, but a lot are unsatisfactory in terms of grafting, yield, implement simplicity, efficiency, cost or harmlessness of the solvant used. Moreover, the described modified polysaccharides can be unsatisfactory in terms of functionality, purity, reactivity or use.

A need of a simple, effective, and selective method to realize the active molecules grafting on polysaccharides and their chemical cross-linkage in a aqueous or hydro-organic medium still remains.

The present invention aims to propose a new process to modify polysaccharides with active molecules or their cross-linkage, avoiding the previous disadvantages. It aims also to provide new polysaccharides derivatives containing reagents likely to be obtained easily and economicaly at an industrial scale.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS

The invention aims to provide new types of material, as hydrogels, with applications in the biological, medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic domains.