Adaptive drug delivery has often been imagined as a technologically advanced system in which sensors, software, power sources, and feedback algorithms continuously monitor biological conditions and adjust therapy. This vision has stimulated important innovation, but it has also encouraged the assumption that adaptation requires electronic intelligence. In many pharmaceutical contexts, this assumption may unnecessarily increase complexity, cost, and technical fragility. A different design logic is possible. Dosage forms can respond to physiological environments through the intrinsic behavior of materials rather than through real-time electronic sensing. Such systems do not measure, calculate, or transmit information digitally; instead, they translate local biological conditions into physical or chemical changes that modulate drug release. This article develops a theory-driven framework for passive adaptive dosage forms. It distinguishes passive responsiveness from active sensor-driven feedback and defines adaptation as an emergent property of material–environment interaction. The framework is intended for non-electronic dosage forms that use physiological cues such as pH, enzymes, glucose, redox gradients, temperature, or mechanical stress to regulate release. The article synthesizes evidence and concepts from stimuli-responsive polymers, hydrogels, molecularly imprinted polymers, shape-memory systems, glucose-responsive platforms, and self-oscillating gels. It does not present new empirical data. Instead, it uses existing literature to clarify the design principles needed to treat passive responsiveness as a deliberate pharmaceutical strategy. Passive adaptive dosage forms offer a simpler and potentially more translatable route to adaptive therapy. Their promise lies not in replacing all electronic systems, but in expanding the adaptive delivery paradigm beyond sensors and circuits. By foregrounding material-based triggering and release behavior design, the article positions passive responsiveness as a distinct and underdeveloped class of pharmaceutical system design.
Eurasian Academy of Medicine and Dentistry