text: Questions could arise as to why the technique of encapsulation of cells is even required when therapeutic products could just be injected at the site. An important reason for this is that the encapsulated cells would provide a source of sustained continuous release of therapeutic products for longer durations at the site of implantation. Another advantage of cell microencapsulation technology is that it allows the loading of non-human and genetically modified cells into the polymer matrix when the availability of donor cells is limited. Microencapsulation is a valuable technique for local, regional and oral delivery of therapeutic products as it can be implanted into numerous tissue types and organs. For prolonged drug delivery to the treatment site, implantation of these drug loaded  artificial cells would be more cost effective in comparison to direct drug delivery. Moreover, the prospect of implanting artificial cells with similar chemical composition in several patients irrespective of their leukocyte antigen could again allow reduction in costs.