bioadhesive / mucoadhesive composition in a suspension or emulsion form that delivers drugs to the target tissue in a sustained manner is formulated . a composition , method of manufacture and its application in treatment of mammalian tissue are disclosed . the composition includes a bioadhesive / mucoadhesive polymer in an emulsion or suspension form along with a treating agent . the treating agent could be as simple as water as in the case of mucoadhesive moisturizing agent . the bioadhesive / mucoadhesive polymer is a water dispersible high molecular weight crosslinked polyacrylic acid copolymer with free carboxylic acid groups further crosslinked with a combination mono , di and polyvalent metal ions , cationic polymers and surfactants . type of metal ion and their concentration can be adjusted to get the desired bio / mucoadhesive properties along with several physical properties that are important to the formulation of dosage forms . the viscosity of the formulation can be reduced substantially by crosslinking with metal ions or by incorporating anions or cations in 0 . 01 to 5 % to get low viscosity product with higher polymer concentration , which is important in several dosage forms . the concentration of the polymer ranges from 0 . 05 to 20 . 0 percent depending on the crosslinking and the viscosity of the product .