The process of bringing a new pharmaceutical compound to market is both expensive and time consuming. Two aspects of that process, drug discovery and clinical trials, are the topic of much of the coverage in the popular press. Drug discovery is the source of new candidate medicines while clinical trials are the process for demonstrating their safety and efficacy. Pre-formulation development is another step in the process which conceptually fits between discovery and clinical trials. During pre-formulation, the compound is characterized, various forms are produced and their physical properties evaluated, and a process for producing the chosen form is determined. There are a wide range of opportunities for chemical engineers to contribute to pre-formulation pharmaceutical development, which has been previously dominated by chemists and pharmacists. Through a series of examples, I show how chemical engineers can apply their understanding of physical processes in this field. Some opportunities for further development based on my own research and published literature will also be given.