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Polymers from renewable resources have been used for a long time in biomedical applications and found an irreplaceable role in some of them. Their uses have been increasing because of their attractive properties, contributing to the improvement of life quality, mainly in drug release systems and in regenerative medicine. Formulations using natural polymer, nano and microscale particles preparation, composites, blends and chemical modification strategies have been used to improve their properties for clinical application. Although many studies have been carried out with these natural polymers, the way to reach the market is long and only very few of them become commercially available. Vegetable cellulose, bacterial cellulose, chitosan, poly(lactic acid) and starch can be found among the most studied polymers for biological applications, some with several derivatives already established in the market, and others with potential for such. In this scenario this work aims to describe the properties and potential of these renewable polymers for biomedical applications, the routes from the bench to the market, and the perspectives for future developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]