Cover Story

Designing Medical Polymer Solutions for Environmental Sustainability

(Courtesy : Celanese The chemistry inside innovation)

 

HOW COLLABORATION DELIVERS INNOVATION AND VALUE Sometimes a novel product development challenge presents an opportunity to innovate in product, process, or both. Celanese works with medical device manufacturers to understand their challenges, identify opportunities, and design solutions that meet their unique challenges. Our experts work with manufacturers and engineers to help understand, articulate and develop material needs in diverse application bases. The Celanese integrated engagement model makes it easy to innovate together with our broad portfolio, process support, part design, global footprint and continued investment into healthcare technology. Our Celanese MT® Portfolio service package provides service and quality commitments, including: Long-term supply assurance without change of formulation Extensive research and development capabilities Processing guidance and support Design and regulatory support Global regulatory approvals Material compliance to FDA and EU requirements Animal- and latex-free formulations Certified biocompatibility - (USP Class VI / ISO 10993, etc.) FDA Drug Master File FDA Device Master File Expanded Certificate of Inspection Application of GMP-principles

Doing business in a global economy presents immense opportunity and any number of challenges, from supply chain issues to variation in regulatory requirements. In the complex business planning process, medical device companies establish objectives across a number of parameters, including profitability, customer satisfaction, product innovation, corporate responsibility, and more. One challenge becomes achieving one or more of these targets without negatively impacting another measure of success. Case in point—how can medical device companies successfully innovate while dealing with cost-down pressures and achieve significant sustainability progress in their products and operations?

To support a more environmentally sustainable future, it is imperative to reduce the volume of greenhouse gases being released into the environment. As such, governments and industries worldwide are introducing targets and setting goals to become carbon neutral over the next few decades, reducing their net greenhouse gas emissions to zero. A reduction in a company’s carbon footprint is one common measure within a corporate sustainability program.

Naturally, the medical industry is no exception. However, when it comes to materials, the medical industry faces a specific challenge that many others do not; it is not a trivial matter to recycle medical-grade material. Drug-containing devices, such as prefilled syringes, must be made of virgin material to comply with regulatory standards. Additionally, there is a need to provide safe and convenient prefilled devices to enable at-home self-administration of medicines by patients, which necessitates a ready supply of difficult-to-recycle medical-grade materials.

Therefore, there is a pressing need for innovation to find a way to meet the demand for more environmentally sustainable production of these materials. For the medical industry, Celanese has developed and launched Hostaform® MT® POM ECO-B, a sustainable, pharmaceutical-compliant grade of Hostaform® MT® POM made by transforming potential pollution into polyacetal material. Hostaform MT POM ECO-B is functionally identical to conventional POM, so no product requalification required and it is a direct drop-in solution without no impact on the properties of the end product.

AN OVERVIEW OF POM AND CELANESE’S HOSTAFORM® MT® POM ECO-B

Polyoxymethylene (POM), sometimes called acetal or polyacetal, is a highly crystalline, high-performance engineering polymer used across a variety of industries, including medical, automotive and consumer products. POM is a highly versatile material that can be processed in a multitude of ways and has a low coefficient of friction, excellent wear resistance, high modulus and resistance to a wide range of solvents.

These properties make POM an attractive polymer for use in medical devices. Celanese has a long history of expertise working with POM, and today is a leading provider of POM worldwide. Hostaform MT POM is traditionally used in medical devices for moving parts, low-friction assemblies, release mechanisms and spring assemblies, in large part due to its durability and tuneable tribological properties.