PLGA (Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid))
This document is technical information about materials. It does not recommend any procedure or product.
In brief
A copolymer of lactic and glycolic acid, widely used in resorbable medical products. In aesthetics the application described in the literature is the resorbable thread rather than the injected particulate biostimulator.
Regulatory identity by market
COS cosmetic · MD medical device · RX drug · — not established in public sources
Identity & physical properties
| Synonyms | Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), Poly(lactide-co-glycolide), PLGA, PGLA |
|---|---|
| Family | Aliphatic polyester copolymer |
| Particle size | Depends on the form — fibres, microparticles and nanoparticles are all described; no single figure characterises the material |
| Morphology | Supplied as fibres and threads, as microparticles, or as nanoparticles, according to application |
| Molecular weight | Varies by grade. The lactide-to-glycolide ratio, not molecular weight alone, drives the reported breakdown rate |
Mechanism
Hydrolytic breakdown to lactic and glycolic acid monomers, with the copolymer ratio governing the rate. Aesthetic literature describes the material in resorbable suspension threads; injectable particulate forms appear in tissue-engineering work, where fibres have been reported to support adipose graft retention.
Evidence
| PMID | Study type | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 32440186 | review | Review of combined minimally invasive facial treatments, describing PLGA in a resorbable suspension thread alongside PCL- and PLLA-based materials |
| 37326365 | in vivo | Injectable pulverised electrospun PLGA fibres reported to improve human adipose tissue engraftment and volume retention |
| 38173050 | review | Review of PLGA nanoparticles for transdermal drug delivery |
| 37409477 | in vitro | Degradation behaviour of PLGA scaffolds measured in phosphate buffered saline |
Regulatory identity — detail
| Market | Classification | Note | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| KR | medical-device | Resorbable thread and suture products follow the device route in the MFDS classification notice. This is the form in which the copolymer is established in aesthetic practice. | Legal text |
| EU | medical-device | Falls under the MDR. Note the difference from the injectable biostimulators on this site: Annex XVI covers substances introduced by injection for filling, whereas thread products are handled under the general provisions of the Regulation. | Legal text |
| US | unclassified | As of the revision date below, the full set of FDA premarket approval records listed under the generic name 'implant, dermal, for aesthetic use' was reviewed (22 distinct approvals), and a PLGA dermal implant was not found in that list. Listing through a route outside this generic name cannot be ruled out, so this is left unestablished. | — |
| JP | unclassified | Not established from public sources as of the revision date below. | — |
| CN | unclassified | Not established from public sources as of the revision date below. | — |
| VN | unclassified | Not established from public sources as of the revision date below. | — |
Limitations & open questions
A literature search for randomised trials of injected particulate PLGA in facial aesthetic indications returned none as of the revision date below; the aesthetic evidence base describes thread applications, and the injectable work is preclinical. The lactide-to-glycolide ratio changes the breakdown rate substantially, so a duration quoted for one grade does not describe the copolymer family. PGLA is an alternative ordering of the same name and is not a different material.
All statements on this page are drawn from the cited literature. Where a market’s regulatory classification could not be established from public sources, it is marked as not established rather than inferred.
PLGA is often grouped with the lactic-acid polyesters elsewhere in this atlas, and chemically that grouping holds. The published aesthetic use differs: PLLA and PDLLA appear as injected particulate materials, while PLGA appears in resorbable threads. When a claim about PLGA is transferred from one form to the other, check whether the underlying study used the same form.