Functional Materials in Biomedical Applications

This book presents modern trends that regard the utilization of advanced functional materials for the development of innovative pharmaceuticals. Such materials include classes of lipids, polymers, proteins, and peptides, as well as inorganic materials, which find application in nanomedicinal products, drug delivery systems, medical devices, biotechnological products, and several other technologies. These products are promising for the therapy and diagnosis of diseases. Special attention is given to the available analytical techniques utilized for the evaluation of materials, their interactions, and their properties as well as the functionality of the final pharmaceutical forms. In addition, scale-up opportunities and limitations of nanomaterials and the current and emerging challenges in their clinical translation, with reference to relative regulatory aspects, are discussed. The book covers the latest advances in functional materials for biomedical applications and will serve as a guide for the industry and aid future research. It will be useful for upper undergraduate students and graduate students, young researchers (in the fields of pharmaceutics and materials sciences), scientists who want to enrich their knowledge on advanced drug delivery nanocarriers and their applications, researchers in the Big Pharma and readers who want to learn more about the role of nanoscience in the design and development of nanomedicines.