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Synopsis The positive responses to the previous volumes of Drug Design and the rapid development in this field have encouraged and stimulated us to continue this series. The first two chapters examine procedures as a applied in the practice of drug design. Chapter 3, "Bridging the gap between bioactive peptides and nonpeptides," opens promising perspectives in the highly actual field of bioactive peptides. A new physiological approach to drug design, i.e. "Dynamic systems analysis as a basis for drug design," is outlined in chapter 4, and chapters 5 and 6 deal effectively with polymers in drug design in "Polymeric drug delivery systems" and "The design of biocompatible polymers," respectively. Chapter 7 presents the structure--activity relationships of insect repellents as a basis for the design of such agents, and chapters 8 and 9 give approaches to the multivariate data analysis in structure--activity relationships, which is an essential aspect of drug design. Again, as in previous volumes, the aim of the authors has been to offer the reader insights into promising and current developments in the field. The topics are presented in an informative, concise, systematic, and thought-provoking manner, in which speculations and new perspectives are encouraged. The contents of this volume and those preceding it are indicative of the wide scope, the interdisciplinary character, and the various perspectives of drug design, a discipline in which fundamental and applied science go hand in hand.