Fifteen years have elapsed since the publication of the first edition of this book, and a decade has gone by since the second edition was published in 1976. The intervening years have witnessed many important changes in the field of industrial phannacy-probably more so than at any other period of time in its history. Therefore, the editors were challenged to select the most qualified contributors to this third edition of the textbook.
As before, the major objective of this edition is to serve as a textbook for graduate and undergraduate students in the pharmaceutical sciences. In addition, it is intended to provide a comprehensive reference source on modem industrial pharmacy. is such, this book·should be useful to practitioners in the ph.armaceutical and allied health-sciencesô€ƒ§ hospital pharmacists, drug patent attorneys, government scientists and regulatory personnel, and others seeking information concerning the design, manufacture, and control of pharmaceutical dosage forms.
Despite the fact that the preface to a book appears, as its title implies, at the beginning of a volume, it is common practice for editors and authors. to delay its writing as one .of their last tasks. This is done in order to reflect on the changes or modifications that have been instituted in the content and arrangement of the chapters in the new edition. In so doing, the edi
tors are provided with an opportunity to highlight such major changes.
Writing this preface has provided us with the opportunity to note the enormous changes in pharmaceutical technology since the appearance of the first edition. This book was created to fill a need that existed during the l 960s and early 1970s, when many undergraduate and graduate programs in colleges of phannacy included courses in industrial pharmacy to teach the unique factors involved in the production of commercially prepared drug dosage forms. It was a period during which the young disciplines of pharmacokinetics and biophannaceutics were beginning to solve new problems associated with the burgeoning array of increasingly sophisticated new drug entities, and with the growing concerns about bioavailability of these compounds from various dosage delivery systems. At that time, graduate programs offered many opportunities for aspiring pharmaceutical scientists to deal with these exciting and innovative technologic advances. Thus, there existed an obvious need for a textbook that could bring together in one volume the emerging concepts, new theories, and their practical applications in the development and production of what were then termed "dosage fonns," and what are now more appropriately referred to as "drug delivery systems."
Along with the development of new drug delivery systems and new drugs came 11ew production processes and machines for manufacture, new control methods for accurate definition. of drug delivery, and new and improved quality control procedures. All of these innovations and improvements contributed to superior quality drug dosage forms, and in many cases, to enhanced concomitant production economics. For example, the advent of microprocessors and small computers has begun to revolutionize the capabilities inherent in modem drug production to a:i extent not foreseeable when the second edition of this book was published.
Since the first edition of this textbook appeared in 1970, we have been most gratified to learn from comments received from all parts of the world that this book has been well-received and utilized as a basic teaching and reference text in colleges, research institutions, government agencies, and phannaceutical and related industries. These comments have also provided us with useful suggestions and ideas for this third edition.
The multi-author approach, used in all three editions, has resulted in a uniquely prepared textbook in industrial pharmacy. This editorial method so common to the writing of modern technical books pern1its the use of a wide range of expertise that is necessary in dealing with the manifold aspects of modern industrial pharmacy. It also, however, poses the problem unique to all editors, namely, the necessity of gently coercing some very busy people to complete, revise, and polish their chapters. In spite of these pressures, we are grateful for the patience and forbearance of our contributors in helping us to complete this edition. Without the skillful sharing of their knowledge in the pages of this book, the enor1nous task of compiling this third edition of the textbook would have been impossible to consider.
We and our contributing authors will be extremely pleased if our efforts have results in an improved book to serve as a teaching and reference source in industrial Pharamcy
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