DRUG RELEASE FROM A POLYMER-CONTROLLED LOCAL ANTIBIOTIC DELIVERY SYSTEM USING A DEGRADABLE BONE GRAFT

In some embodiments, the invention provides an implant comprising a uniform mixture of degradable polymer, bone, and a drug. In some embodiments, the drug comprises an antibiotic. In some embodiments, diffusion of the drug from the implant at a therapeutic level is maintained for an amount of time longer than an amount of time that a pathogen is senescent. In some embodiments, diffusion of the drug from the implant at a therapeutic level is maintained for at least eight weeks, or at least ten weeks, or at least twelve weeks post-implantation. In some embodiments, the therapeutic level is maintained at an implantation site of the implant. In some embodiments, the implant is a solid, a paste, or a liquid. In some embodiments, the solid implant is carved or molded for insertion into a site of implantation in a vertebrate host prior to implantation. In some embodiments, the paste implant hardens following implantation. In some embodiments, the liquid implant is used to coat a prosthesis (e.g., a prosthesis made of a metal, a ceramic, a porcelain, or a combination of two or more of the foregoing).