In the view of most experts pharmacology is on drugs, targets, and actions. In the context the drug as a rule is seen as an active pharmaceutical ingredient and not as a complex mixture of chemical entities of a well defined structure. Today, we are becoming more and more aware of the fact that delivery of the active compound to the target site is a key. The present volume gives a topical overview on various modern approaches to drug targeting covering today's options for specific carrier systems allowing successful drug treatment at various sites of the body difficult to address and allowing to increase the benefit-risk-ratio to the optimum possible.

Fundamentals

Passive and Active Drug Targeting: Drug Delivery to Tumors as an Example
Nanoparticle Technologies for Cancer Therapy
Biosensing and Drug Delivery at the Microscale
Devices
Lipid Nanoparticles: Effect on Bioavailability and Pharmacokinetic Changes
Viral Vectors for Gene Transfer: Current Status of Gene Therapeutics
Pulmonary Drug Delivery: Medicines for Inhalation
Needle-Free Vaccine Injection
Pharmaceutically Used Polymers: Principles, Structures, and Applications of Pharmaceutical Delivery Systems
Mucoadhesive Drug Delivery Systems
Intrauterine Drug Delivery for Contraception and Gynaecological Treatment: Novel Approaches
Drug-Eluting Medical Implants
Clinical and Preclinical Application of Therapeutics for Systemic Use
Improving Oral Delivery
Transdermal Drug Delivery
Targeting the Brain - Surmounting or Bypassing the Blood-Brain Barrier
Clinical and Preclinical Application of Therapeutics for Topical Use
Carriers in the Topical Treatment of Skin Disease
Medical Devices for the Treatment of Eye Diseases
Erratum to: Biosensing and Drug Delivery at the Microscale.