The local delivery of antibiotics in the treatment of infectious respiratory diseases is an attractive alternative to deliver high concentration of antimicrobials directly to the lungs and minimize systemic side eŠects. In this study, inhalable microparticles containing doxycycline hyclate, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, leucine and lactose were prepared by spray drying of aqueous ethanol formulations. Box-Behnken design was used to study the in‰uence of various independent variables such as polymer concentration, leucine concentration, ethanol concentration and inlet temperature of the spray dryer on microparticle characteristics. The microparticles were characterized in terms of particle morphology, drug excipient interaction, yield, entrapment e‹ciency, Carr's index, moisture content, thermal properties, X-ray powder diŠraction, aerosolization performance and in vitro drug release. The eŠect of independent variables on spray dryer outlet temperature was also studied. The overall shape of the particles was found to be spherical like doughnuts in the size range of 1.16 5.2 mm. The optimized formulation (sodium carboxymethylcellulose concentration 14% w/v, leucine concentration 33% w/v, ethanol concentration 36% v/v, inlet temperature of 140°C) exhibited the following properties: yield 56.69%, moisture content 3.86%, encapsulation e‹ciency 61.74%, theoretical aerodynamic diameter 3.11 mm and Carr's index 23.5% at an outlet temperature 77°C. The powders generated were of a suitable mass median aerodynamic diameter (4.89 mm) with 49.3%ˆne particle fraction and exhibited a sustained drug release proˆle in vitro.