Dear Colleagues,

The galenic developments of tablet formulations currently represent an extraordinary challenge for the pharmaceutical industry. Drugs with a short half-life, with a narrow therapeutic margin, or that degrade in certain circumstances or belonging to biopharmaceutical classifications I and II, that is, with low solubility, form part of these novel pharmaceutical formulations. Many of these challenges are achieved using new release dosage forms. Bilayer tablets, composed of two layers, an immediate release layer and a sustained release layer, anticipating the rapid release of the drug that begins in the stomach to quickly relieve symptoms and continues in the intestine to maintain a prolonged pharmacological effect; mucoadhesive buccal tablets that prevent gastric breakdown and first-pass metabolism, thus increasing the bioavailability of the drug and the onset of action; gastric floating tablets with a lower density than gastric fluid and which consequently can float in the stomach for a prolonged period of time, releasing the drug slowly; or enteric-coated tablets, in which the drug is released into the intestine at a time other than that of administration, but its therapeutic effect is not prolonged are all of interest. This means that one of the paths of current galenic research is directed at the control of drug release kinetics to attain optimal bioavailability and specificity at the site of action, and hence, modern excipients and biopolymers that act by modulating the speed, place, and moment of drug release that ultimately increase the therapeutic effectiveness are of great importance. Biopolymers and their derivatives are remarkably interesting for their renewability, non-toxicity, low cost, biodegradability, and good biological performance. 

We must also point out the importance of manufacturing procedures; they must be reproducible and provide stable, safe, and quality formulations. The physical characteristics of raw materials will determine the performance and results in these pharmaceutical processes. The deformation behavior of powders is particularly complex. The influence of the initial particle size, intermolecular interactions, and porosity on the compressibility and compactability of the starting samples can be extremely complicated, without forgetting their repercussion on the disintegration and dissolution of the final drug. 

This Special Issue is dedicated to the latest advances in the formulation and evaluation of different drug tablets. We invite authors to submit original research or review articles on these topics, including the development of new galenic developments of solid dosage forms targeting a specific patient and pathology. Thus, in addition to improving the therapeutic action of each active ingredient, patient compliance is improved and an essential contribution to the therapeutic success is provided, all representing clear reasons to seek to improve existing dosage forms and to create new ones. 

Prof. Dr. María Ángeles Peña Fernández
Guest Editor

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• formulation
• tablets
• release
• compression
• polymers
• drug