Biopharmaceutical medicines, the newest class of therapeutics, are quite heterogeneous and include a range of molecules such as proteins, peptides, vaccines and nucleic acids, with use in virtually all therapeutic fields (e.g. cancer and infectious diseases, vaccination, metabolic dysfunctions) and diagnostics. This edited book gives a concise and up-to-date overview of the biological features justifying the use of different human mucosa as delivery routes for biopharmaceuticals, the technological strategies that have been followed so far regarding the optimization of mucosal potentialities as well as the challenges that arise with the advent of new biopharmaceutical drugs and alternative means of administration. Following a brief introduction, the first section addresses general aspects of the biology of mucosal tissues and their unique aspects toward beneficial or deleterious interaction with biopharmaceuticals and their delivery systems. The second part reviews the different delivery strategies that have recently been investigated for different mucosal sites. The third section describes the development and clinical applications of drug delivery systems and products enclosing biopharmaceuticals for mucosal delivery, with a focus on the most successful case studies of recent years. The last section briefly centers on relevant aspects of the regulatory, toxicological and market issues of mucosal delivery of biopharmaceuticals. Scientists and researchers in the fields of drug delivery, material science, biomedical science and bioengineering as well as professionals, regulators and policy makers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and healthcare industries will find in this book an important compendium of fundamental concepts and practical tools for their daily research and activities.
