Dear Colleagues,

In most cases, oral drug delivery is most preferred as it is convenient, non-invasive, and easy to incorporate into a patient's lifestyle. Nevertheless, several factors, including poor solubility, low dissolution rate, stability, and bioavailability of many dugs remain a constant challenge in achieving the desired therapeutic targets. The delivery of drugs must overcome various obstacles, including the acidic gastric environment and the presence of intestinal efflux and influx transporters.

On the other hand, dermal/transdermal drug delivery candidates have increased in recent years in response to the development of new and optimized approaches to improve local and systemic drug delivery. Dermal/transdermal delivery of drugs represents an effective method to deliver drugs directly to the site of action or to enhance treatment activity noninvasively. They circumvent the hepatic first passage and reduce toxicity. Several new technologies have opened up new horizons in this area and have emerged as attractive administration methods.

Lipid-based drug delivery systems are one of the emerging technologies designed to address challenges such as the solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs.

This Special Issue is addressed to those authors who are currently engaged in research on the use of lipid-based formulations for the development of oral and dermal/transdermal drug delivery systems. Both research and review papers on oral and dermal/transdermal drug delivery systems are invited for this Special Issue.

This Special Issue aims to collect recent advances, developments, and future prospects on the design, development, characterization, and biological evaluation of lipid pharmaceutical formulations for oral/dermal/transdermal delivery, which may include but is not exclusively limited to articles on: dermal delivery; drug delivery systems; iontophoresis; liposomes; microneedles; nanocarriers; nanoemulsions; nanoparticles; nanostructured lipid carriers; niosomes; oral administration; permeation enhancers; polymeric nanoparticles; self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems; solid lipid nanoparticles; sonophoresis; transdermal delivery; vesicular systems.

Dr. Abdul Ahad
Dr. Yousef A. Bin Jardan
Guest Editors

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• dermal delivery
• drug delivery systems
• iontophoresis
• liposomes
• microneedles
• nanocarriers
• nanoemulsions
• nanoparticles
• nanostructured lipid carriers
• niosomes
• oral administration
• permeation enhancers
• polymeric nanoparticles
• self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems
• solid lipid nanoparticles
• sonophoresis
• transdermal delivery
• vesicular systems