In its current form, drug formulation development is a process that is largely based on experimental trial-and-error. The methods used to select compatible excipients for an API, prepare the formulation, and evaluate its various properties (e.g., physicochemical characteristics, stability, release, etc.) are laborious and time-intensive . A typical timeline from initial development to clinical approval of a nanomedicine formulation spans 10-15 years, beginning with preliminary formulation design and characterization, in vitro and in vivo evaluation, GMP scale-up and manufacturing, GLP safety and toxicology studies, clinical evaluation as well as approval, and finally market launch . If a formulation fails to meet performance requirements at any stage of its development, the current approach relies on repeated assessments, further necessitating a large investment of time and resources. To lessen the demands associated with this process, formulation scientists often look to use established materials that are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and widely accessible. Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)-based drug delivery systems are heavily investigated for this reason . This trial-and-error loop has become ingrained into current pharmaceutical formulation development practices, and in addition to its impracticality, raises several challenges related to the design of such formulations. First, limiting the choice of excipients is a practical decision since it is often too burdensome to develop a material de novo. This is partly due to the various iterations and tests needed to verify formulation properties, which can demand countless person-hours to make incremental progress . Established GRAS materials are often preferred as they do not require additional evaluation of safety and toxicity, which can be quite costly and takes significant time. Second, even an established GRAS material can be unsuitable for a particular application, but this conclusion may not be immediately clear. While it is true that PLGA is used extensively in medical devices and various drug products, it is not currently part of any approved nanomedicine formulation. This is often attributed to challenges in scale-up and manufacturing, poor loading for certain APIs, high initial burst release of the API, limited generalizability to different classes of drugs, the production of acidic degradants that can limit therapeutic efficacy (e.g., for pH-sensitive drugs), and local tissue reactions . Finally, settling on one type of material too early in the development of a formulation may inadvertently preclude more suitable options from being identified.