Many drugs that may benefit patients have poor biopharmaceutical properties; 90% of the global developmental pipeline consists of poorly water-soluble or bioavailable molecules. Moreover, rapid progress in biopharmaceuticals has not been matched by advances in formulation to enable their effective administration by routes other than injections. Strong partnership between drug discovery scientists and formulators is now essential if progress is to be made in enhancing solubility, bioavailability and stability of novel medicines. Such interactions will also be vital in development of novel approaches to circumvent antimicrobial resistance. In parallel, formulation development requires innovation in manufacturing to allow advanced dosage forms to be produced in a scalable and cost-effective fashion. Such innovations in formulation and process engineering will not only bring next generation therapies out of hospitals and into patients’ own homes, but also overcome major problems associated with existing treatments, such as medicines for children and the very old, and preventative strategies, such as vaccination.