Chapter 18: Status for Commercialization of FDA-approved Hydrogels and Their Intellectual Properties

Commercialization of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved hydrogels and their intellectual properties (IP) have been extensively discussed by studying its various applications in biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. For drug delivery and physical barrier protection of wounds, the use of hydrogels in diverse forms, including injectable hydrogels, is practiced by physicians and pharmacists since long. In the last few decades, its applications encompass contact lenses, tissue engineering and 3D bioprinting, injectable hydrogels, cancer therapy, stent, etc. beyond the traditional medical devices and drug delivery. The U.S. FDA approved several hydrogel-based products while several such products are in the clinical trial stages. In this chapter, we try to highlight the approval status of various hydrogels and their specific applications in different biomedical areas, recent intellectual properties, the present market scenario of the hydrogels and the research trends on these topics.