Advances in Controlled Release and Targeting of Drugs

Dear Colleagues,

Drug delivery focuses on the approaches to improve pharmaceutical practices by enhancing drug molecule fractions that reach the target cells and receptors. The importance of this topic lies in the necessity of reducing the drug side effects and drug dosage. Drug delivery compounds consist of molecules (polymers, macromolecules, small molecules) capable of coordinating, transporting, and releasing drugs selectively to their targets. The coordination must be reversible to allow the subsequent release. The targeting can be active (through functional groups that interact with the targets) or passive (the delivery drug exploits the physical characteristics of the physical environment sorrounding the targets). Commercial systems include liposome compounds, cyclodextrins, and prodrug compounds. Recent research is trying to develop more sophisticated strategies by exploiting the progress in organic synthesis, supramolecular chemistry, and molecular machines. This topic collection covers all manuscripts about drug delivery systems.

Dr. Carmine Coluccini
Dr. Paolo Coghi
Dr. Xingxing Fan
Topic Editors