The object
Robert S. Langer invented polymer-controlled drug-delivery systems that use degradable and nondegradable materials to release drugs at planned rates. The National Inventors Hall of Fame identifies these systems as the basis of a multibillion-dollar industry, while MIT documents Langer's current research on triggered and long-term delivery systems.
What Robert did
Invented polymer-based controlled drug-delivery systems that release large-molecule medicines at engineered rates.
Why it matters
Langer's polymer delivery materials established controlled release as a medical-device platform, enabling local and sustained therapies such as chemotherapy wafers.
Living-status check
Langer Lab's current news lists his 2025 Lipid Science Prize, and MIT's current faculty profile describes active work on controlled-release systems.