A Royal Pharmaceutical Society working party on drug delivery has recommended the establishment of a network to co-ordinate the strategic development of drug delivery research in the UK. The network would be established as a "virtual centre of excellence" with participation of academic and industrial groups and would request funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The working party's report has not yet been published but its conclusions were discussed on September 11 at the Conference. Professor Tony Moffat (chief scientist, RPSGB) explained that the working party came about in response to suggestions that academics wanted help in obtaining funding for drug delivery research - there were concerns that the research councils did not understand what this research was about - and also to help ensure that "UK Plc" maintained its pre-eminence in this research area. Before setting up the working party, the Society had held meetings with the research councils and had found that they wanted to help. "We were pushing at an open door and drug delivery is now firmly established on the map as far as the research councils are concerned," Professor Moffat said. It was now a priority area for the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The working party, with representatives from academia, industry and the research councils, was then set up to plan for the future. One of its recommendations is that the research councils consider the inclusion of drug delivery in their strategic plans for priorities for future research and training. The group also recommends that a new LINK programme is started to carry out research in drug delivery and that the UK drug delivery research portfolio is examined every three years to identify emerging gaps. The working party report, which includes discussion on key areas for research, is expected to be published soon.