ABSTRACT
In the last 25 to 30 years, a huge resource in both academia and industry has been devoted to the development of drug delivery systems that target drugs more effectively to their therapeutic site. Much of this work has been successful, and is reported in this text. In spite of this, oral solid dosage forms such as tablets and hard gelatin capsules, which have been in existence since the 19th century, remain the most frequently used dosage forms. This is not simply a reflection of the continued use of established products on the market; tablets and capsules still account for about half of all new medicines licensed (Table 1).
