Recent Advances in Smart Polymeric Micelles for Targeted Drug Delivery

ABSTRACT Smart polymeric micelles have emerged as versatile nanocarriers in targeted drug delivery, driven by their unique ability to encapsulate therapeutic agents and deliver them with precision to specific sites. This review delves into the recent advancements in the design, functionality, and biomedical applications of these nanostructures, emphasizing their role in enhancing therapeutic efficacy while minimizing systemic toxicity. The review begins by discussing the principles behind stimuli‐responsive micelles, exploring mechanisms triggered by pH, redox conditions, temperature, and light to achieve controlled drug release. It highlights advances in functionalization strategies, including surface modifications with targeting ligands and stimuli‐sensitive linkages, which enhance specificity and adaptability to pathological microenvironments. Subsequent sections focus on cutting‐edge biomedical applications, particularly in cancer therapy, regenerative medicine, and theranostics, showcasing the potential of these micelles in addressing complex clinical challenges. Emerging technologies, such as multi‐stimuli‐responsive systems and hybrid micelles, are explored for their ability to overcome limitations in drug loading, stability, and release profiles. Despite significant progress, current technologies still face challenges, including achieving consistent and reproducible drug loading efficiencies, maintaining stability in physiological environments, controlling precise drug release kinetics, and ensuring scalable and cost‐effective production methods. The review concludes with a discussion on the challenges and future perspectives in the field, emphasizing the need for integrating advanced polymer chemistry, nanotechnology, and biomedicine to develop next‐generation smart micelles. By providing a comprehensive overview, this article aims to underscore the transformative potential of smart polymeric micelles in advancing precision medicine and targeted therapeutic interventions.