Drug-eluting scaffolds for bone and cartilage regeneration

•Tissue repair involves intricate mimicry of biological signals.•Developments in tissue regeneration have been centered on the diamond concept.•Delivery platforms and biomolecules are important engineering considerations.•Hybrid scaffolds with sequential therapeutic delivery are key to tissue repair.•Future advances revolve around construction of functional hybrid scaffolds. The advances in strategies for bone and cartilage regeneration have been centered on a concept that describes the close relationship between osteogenic cells, osteoconductive scaffolds, delivery growth factors and the mechanical environment. The dynamic nature of the tissue repair process involves intricate mimicry of signals expressed in the biological system in response to an injury. Recently, synergistic strategies involving hybrid delivery systems that provide sequential dual delivery of biomolecules and relevant topological cues received great attention. Future advances in tissue regeneration will therefore depend on multidisciplinary strategies that encompass the crux of tissue repair aimed at constructing the ideal functional regenerative scaffold. Here, functional scaffolds delivering therapeutics are reviewed in terms of their controlled release and healing capabilities. Multidisciplinary strategies combining cutting-edge engineering techniques, biochemistry and medicine toward the development of the ideal functional drug-eluting scaffold for tissue regeneration.