The parameters influencing alginate ionotropic gelation and the production of alginate beads loaded with hydrosoluble ibuprofen lysine salt (IBU-L) were studied, as well as the optimization of the method for its attainment. A three-factor and three-level factorial design (3 3 ) was carried out to determine the influence of three experimental variables: polymer concentration, CaCl 2 concentration, and curing time on the dependent variables drug load and encapsulation efficiency. The effect of the pH used in the preparation bath was also evaluated. Concentrations of CaCl 2 and pH of gelling bath were seen to affect bead formation and stability as well as their ability to properly entrap the drug. In this work, IBU-L was used as a model of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug with good solubility in alginate solutions. IBU-L was successfully encapsulated in alginate beads obtained by the ionotropic gelation method. The obtained alginate matrixes are able to modify the release of the entrapped IBU-L and this occurs in a pH-sensitive way that can be correlated with the swelling behaviour of the alginate-produced beads. Morphological characteristics were evaluated by means of scanning electron microscopy.