With the rapid development of biomaterials, the controlled delivery of potent, bioactive agents to manage, treat, or cure diseases has made significant progress in medicine. Advanced biomaterials with nano-/micro-scaled particulates or scaffolds have improved the metabolism and efficacies of a wide range of pharmaceutical compounds, including antibodies, peptides, nucleic acids, drugs, enzymes, and so forth. In conjunction with biomaterials, several unique therapeutic approaches, in addition to the conventional drug administration routes, have been created, such as administrations through pulmonary, transdermal, ocular, and nasal routes. These approaches enable more effective ways to treat specific diseases. Recent remarkable advances include breakthroughs in biomaterials for cancer immunotherapy, autoimmune diseases, and genome editing.

The understanding of design, functionalization, and translational potential of biomaterials for disease therapeutics requires multidisciplinary contributions from physicists, chemists, engineers, biologists, and clinicians. Therefore, the physicochemical properties and best administration route can be systematically tailored to maximize the therapeutic efficacy of delivered therapeutic agents. The optimized design improves drug pharmacokinetics, enhances the uptake at the target site, and avoids undesired clearance, thereby improving the therapeutic efficacy as well as reducing the potential adverse effects. In summary, we can expect that the precise engineering strategies will drive the development of pharmaceutical biomaterials for next-generation precision medicine and accelerate the clinical translation.

This Research Topic focuses on recent advances in design, functionalization, and the clinical translation of transformative biomaterials, which are used to deliver therapeutic agents to enhance efficacy and to reduce toxicity. Original Research articles, Reviews, and Mini-Reviews on, but not limited to, the following topics can be included:

- New types of materials and conjugates for delivery of therapeutic agents
- Advanced bioresponsive biomaterials that have the potential to exploit and respond to the specific microenvironment
- Hierarchical three-dimensional scaffolds for bulk controlled release of therapeutic agents
- Biomaterial drug reservoirs that stimulate, or shape the immune response, either directly or indirectly
- Natural membrane-camouflaged materials for pharmaceutical applications
- Reliability and model validation for clinical applications

We would like to acknowledge Dr. Huimin Kong's hard work and dedication to the development of this Research Topic as a Topic Coordinator, and thank him for his contribution as a valued member of the team.

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Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

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