Hydroxypropyl Chitosan: From Smart Drug Delivery To Precision Medicine, Multifunctional Biomaterial Leads The Wave of Innovation

As a significant water-soluble derivative of natural polymer chitosan, Hydroxypropyl Chitosan (HPCS) is demonstrating increasingly important application value across biomedicine, cosmetics, environmental protection and other fields, thanks to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, moisture retention and antibacterial properties.

By introducing hydroxypropyl groups (-CH2CHOHCH3) into the chitosan molecular chain, hydroxypropyl chitosan significantly improves water solubility while retaining chitosan's natural antibacterial characteristics. This modification endows the material with excellent moisture retention, antibacterial activity, adsorption capacity, crosslinking ability and biodegradability. Compared with chitosan, hydroxypropyl chitosan is more readily soluble in water, greatly expanding its application boundaries across various fields.

In the pharmaceutical field, hydroxypropyl chitosan is widely used in drug sustained-release systems and tissue engineering scaffolds. In 2026, a research team from Zhejiang University published a groundbreaking study in European Polymer Journal—cyanobacteria-inspired hydroxypropyl chitosan-based ROS-responsive hydrogel microneedles (AR-CSMNs) for wrinkle treatment. Using methacryloyl hydroxypropyl chitosan as the base material, these microneedles nearly completely eliminated skin wrinkles in rats within seven days. In the same year, the team also developed modified hydroxypropyl chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol-based hydrogel microneedles for gouty arthritis treatment, featuring both pH and photothermal dual responsiveness. Additionally,hydroxypropyl chitosan/heparin nano-drug delivery systems have demonstrated inhibitory effects against liver cancer cells.

In the cosmetics industry, hydroxypropyl chitosan is widely used in creams, serums, facial masks and hair care products due to its excellent moisture retention and film-forming properties. Its long-lasting water-locking characteristics effectively improve dry and rough skin conditions. Industry reports indicate that the global cosmetic-grade hydroxypropyl chitosan market reached approximately 160 million RMB in 2025 and is projected to reach 240 million RMB by 2032.

At the 94th API China, held in May 2026, Shandong Binzhou Zhiyuan Bio-Technology made a launch of its new hydroxypropyl chitosan product, empowering pharmaceutical R&D and production applications.

Current research on hydroxypropyl chitosan is advancing toward smart responsive materials and precision medicine. The successful design of ketone-functionalized hydroxypropyl chitin materials enables the formation of injectable, self-healing hydrogels through mild Schiff base reactions, achieving drug release of up to 79.2% within 24 hours under acidic conditions. Looking ahead, hydroxypropyl chitosan is expected to achieve further breakthroughs in targeted tumor microenvironment therapy, stage-specific treatment of infected wounds, and bone tissue regeneration.