RAPID SELF-HEALING GEL MARKET ANALYSIS

Rapid self-healing gel is a specialized type of polymer hydrogel that is a cross-network of polymers linked to each other either using physical interactions or chemical interactions such as hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions and others between the unit polymers. These gels have extremely high hydrating ability due to which they exhibit elasticity, sensitivity, and permeability. Moreover, these gels can maintain their three dimensional structure in spite of any environmental changes such as mechanical and physical damage. Such properties of rapid self-healing gel enables the hydrogel to mimic flesh/skin hence, providing opportunities for researchers to use self-healing gels in a variety of biomedical applications including tissue engineering, wound healing, drug delivery, cosmetology, and others.

Global Rapid Self-healing Gel Market - Impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was first reported on December 31, 2019, in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19, as pandemic on March 11, 2020.

According to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Weekly Epidemiological Update by the World Health Organization, over 172 million cases and 3.7 million deaths due to coronavirus (COVID-19) were reported till June 06, 2021, across the globe.

Impact of COVID-19 on Demand and Supply of Rapid Self-healing Gel

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in various countries across the globe have negatively impacted the financial status of businesses across all sectors. The private healthcare sector is one such sector, which has been majorly impacted due to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entire supply chain of the pharmaceutical industry mainly due to strict lockdown in several regions. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted development, production, and supply of medicines and affected businesses of various companies operating in the healthcare sector across the globe. The pandemic has led to closure of industrial establishments, except manufacturing of essential commodities, and disruption in supply chain of products.

The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is expected to limit growth of the global rapid self-healing gel market during the forecast period, owing to the decrease in the production and supply of the raw materials required for manufacturing of self-healing gels, during the pandemic. For instance, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report- May 2020, around 359,540 people are associated with chemical manufacturing in the U.S. Due to nationwide lockdowns there was a shortage of labor and also industries were not permitted to function at full capacity. This led to a decreased production of chemicals which are required in several other industrial domains.  Many of these chemicals are required as a raw material for production of self-healing gels. Therefore, the growth of the rapid self-healing gel market is expected to be hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The global rapid self-healing gel market is estimated to be valued at US$ 245.0 Mn in 2021, and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 8.2% over the forecast period (2021-2028).

Figure 1: Global Rapid Self-healing Gel Market Share (%) Analysis, By Application, 2021

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The increasing incidence of wounds is the major factor that is expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period.

The rising cases of trauma and chronic wound is expected to drive growth of the global rapid self-healing gel market over the forecast period. For instance, according to an article published in Ecronicon on May 28, 2020, chronic wounds affect 6% of the total population across the globe, out of which geriatric population is mostly affected.

Moreover, increasing number of clinical trials for improving the effectiveness of rapid self-healing gel is expected to aid in the growth of the market over the forecast period. For instance, according to the U.S. National Library of medicine data as on June 8, 2021, a total of 553 clinical trials associated with hydrogels are listed, out of which 73 are currently being carried out.

The rising research and development activities may support production of new rapid self-healing gels, which is expected to drive the growth of the global rapid self-healing gel market over the forecast period. For instance, according to an article published by the Nature Scientific Journal in February, 2019, researchers at the National University of Singapore made a breakthrough in the self-healing gel domain by developing a water resistant hydrogel, which heals itself in case of mechanical stress. This self-healing gel resembles jellyfish skin and is made up of fluorine-based polymer. Traditional self-healing gels lacked the property of water resistance, which limited its use in electrical applications. This fluorine based self-healing gel overcomes the shortcomings of traditional self-healing gels, thus can be used to make aquatic soft robots and water-resistant mobile screens.

Global Rapid Self-healing Gel Market – Restraints

However, growth of the global rapid self-healing gel market may be hampered, owing to changing costs of raw materials required for polymerization of self-healing gel and side effects related to hydrogel treatment. For instance, according to an article published by Wiley Online Library on November 2018, a clinical study supported by Gelesis Inc., a U.S.-based biopharmaceutical company, showed that Plenity, a self-healing hydrogel base weight management capsule manufactured by Gelesis causes side effects such as indigestion, vomiting, bloating, cramping, and constipation.

Global Rapid Self-healing Gel Market – Regional Analysis

On the basis of region, the global rapid self-healing gel market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.

Among regions, North America is expected to hold dominant position in the global rapid self-healing gel market over the forecast period, owing to rising incidence of chronic wounds. For instance, according to data published by Ecronicon on May 28, 2020, around 2.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from pressure ulcer every year. This is expected to boost the market growth of rapid self-healing gel in North America region.

Figure 2: Global Rapid Self-healing Gel Market Value (US$ Mn), by Region, 2021

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Global Rapid Self-healing Gel Market – Competitive Landscape

Major players operating in the global rapid self-healing gel market include Cardinal Health, Katecho Inc., Scapa Healthcare, R&D Medical Products, Inc., Advanced Medical Solutions Group PLC, Axelgaard, Hydromer Inc., Alliqua Biomedical, Contura International, and Cytogel Pharma