The purpose of this study was to design and characterise an oral mucoadhesive micellar drug carrier. In this regard, a mucoadhesive hydrophobic cationic aminocellulose was easily synthesised under mild homogeneous conditions with high yield. The cellulose derivative resulted in strongly improved mucoadhesive properties but was pH dependent. Furthermore, the hydrophobic anticancer drug camptothecin was successfully encapsulated into the mucoadhesive cellulose derivative micelles with spherical shape stability of 233 nm in diameter and low particle size distribution. The CPT-loaded nanocarriers provided high encapsulation efficiency about 86.4%. In vitro release, CPT-loaded cellulose derivative micelles showed a reduction in release rate compared with physically pure CPT solution. The release results also indicated that a sustained release of CPT to > 80% over 4 d for pH 6.8 and 7.4. Therefore, mucoadhesive hydrophobic cationic aminocellulose micelles seem to be a promising carrier for various pharmaceutical applications especially for poorly water-soluble drug delivery system.