The global market for Hydrogel is projected to reach US$15.3 billion by 2025, driven by their growing use in wound care products and drug delivery systems (DDS). Defined as a three-dimensional (3D) hydrophilic polymer capable of holding large amounts of water, hydrogel is valuable in biological applications as they resemble natural tissue and their high water content. Strong R&D interest is already underway for hydrogel biomaterials. New developments in hydrogel design and hydrogel synthesis are resulting in the development of hydrogels with mechanical properties. Superporous comb-type grafted hydrogels with fast response times; hybrid graft copolymers based self-assembling hydrogels; protein based hydrogels’ and hybrid hydrogels are the emerging new future of smart hydrogel based biomaterials. Stimuli-sensitive hydrogels, especially polypeptide based responsive hydrogels hold promising potential. Protein hydrogel are more biocompatible than synthetic hydrogel as they do not require the use of oxic chemical crosslinkers. This represents a key growth opportunity in the market given that traditional hydrogels have been largely limited by their poor mechanical properties and slow response times to stimuli. Temperature-sensitive hydrogels especially will find attractive opportunities in biomedicine.  The growing focus on controlled and targeted drug delivery systems in the field of cardiology, oncology, immunology, and pain management bodes well for future growth in the market. Read More…