1. Drug discovery trends -- 2. Intellectual property considerations -- 3. The scope of preformulation studies -- 4. Dissociation, partitioning, and solubility -- 5. Release, dissolution, and permeation -- 6. Solid-state properties -- 7. Dosage form considerations in preformulation -- 8. Chemical drug substance characterization -- 9. Characterization of biopharmaceutical drugs -- 10. Characterization of phytomedicines.