Volume 18

January-March 2026

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Stimuli-Responsive Drug Delivery System: Innovation in Precision Therapy

Anisha Vikas Suryawanshi and Jameel Ahmed S Mulla

Abstract: 
One modern subcategory of smart therapeutics is stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems (SR-DDS) which release cargo in response to specific internal (pH, redox, enzymes, hypoxia, glucose) or external (light, temperature, ultrasound, magnetic, electric) stimuli. SR-DDS can achieve spatiotemporal control of payload release by polymers, lipids, hydrogels, inorganic nanostructures and targeting motifs, are more selective towards targets, and less toxic to the host body than traditional formulations. The most recent developments are multi-stimuli and logic-gate designs, hybrid organic inorganic nanocomposites, biosensor based closed circuit platforms and AI-directed materials discovery. The innovations widen clinical possibilities in oncology, inflammatory and infectious diseases, neurological disorders, and regenerative medicine and also have the capability of patient-specific therapies, theranostic monitoring. Even with good preclinical outcomes, the translation has problems pertaining to biocompatibility, long-term safety, reproducibility, manufacturability scales and regulatory classification. To overcome these barriers, the need is to have standardized characterization, strong manufacturing processes, as well as, inter-disciplinary teams of materials scientists, clinicians, industry, and regulators. It is a summary of design principles, mechanistic stimulus, advanced architectures, therapeutic applications, and translational challenges, and provides the future directions of personalized SR-DDS, wearable/implantable closed-loop devices, and interaction of the digital health could cost-effectively expedite the introduction of precision, adaptive therapeutics.

Keywords: Smart Drug Delivery, Smarts Stimuli-Responsive Drug Delivery, Precision Medicine, Multi-Stimuli Systems, Hydrogels And Nanocarriers, Theranostics, Clinical Translation.

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