Book excerpt: Alginates in Drug Delivery explores the vital precepts, basic and fundamental aspects of alginates in pharmaceutical sciences, biopharmacology, and in the biotechnology industry. The use of natural polymers in healthcare applications over synthetic polymers is becoming more prevalent due to natural polymers' biocompatibility, biodegradability, economic extraction and ready availability. To fully utilize and harness the potential of alginates, this book presents a thorough understanding of the synthesis, purification, and characterization of alginates and their derivative. This book collects, in a single volume, all relevant information on alginates in health care, including recent advances in the field. This is a highly useful resource for pharmaceutical scientists, health care professionals and regulatory scientists actively involved in the pharmaceutical product and process development of natural polymer containing drug delivery, as well as postgraduate students and postdoctoral research fellows in pharmaceutical sciences. - Provides a single source on the complete alginate chemistry, collection, chemical modifications, characterization and applications in healthcare fields - Includes high quality illustrations, along with practical examples and research case studies - Contains contributions by global leaders and experts from academia, industry and regulatory agencies who are pioneers in the application of natural polysaccharides in diverse pharmaceutical fields