Evonik starts Medical Devices Project House in USA

German specialty chemicals major, Evonik Industries, is gearing up to launch the Medical Devices Project House early in April. The eleventh project house of Evonik has its main campus in Birmingham, Alabama (USA), along with a branch in Hanau (Germany). The aim of the new Medical Devices Project House is to develop new system solutions for medical technology and to expand the competencies of Evonik in the areas of biomaterials and polymers. Above all, it will address applications in implantology.
 
Dr Peter Nagler, Chief Innovation Officer at Evonik, said, “In the new Medical Devices Project House, we are pooling and expanding the interdisciplinary competencies of Evonik in the area of medical technology and biomaterial research. By locating it in the USA, we are continuing to internationalise our R&D activities." The specialty chemicals company already started the Light & Electronics Project House in Taiwan in the year 2011.
 
"We want to open up new growth opportunities for Evonik in the medical technology market with innovative products," says Nagler. The global medical technology market with a volume of Euro 300 billion is posting annual growth rates of 6%. At 40%, the USA accounts for a major proportion of this world market and US companies hold leading positions, above all in the area of implantology.
 
Additional important markets for medical devices include Europe and Japan. Evonik is already a provider of targeted specialty applications in the area of medical technology. Examples are Vestakeep PEEK and Resomer PLA, biocompatible synthetics for implant materials, and Vestamid Care, a polyamide molding compound that is used, among other things, as catheter material. Additional products for medical technology applications include PMMA and methacrylate copolymers, which Evonik supplies under the brand name Degacryl. They are used as a high-quality raw material for bone cement and dental applications.
 
The work areas addressed by the Medical Devices Project House are closely focused on current and future customer needs in the area of medical technology. "Innovative solutions in medical technology, such as functional biomaterials, are excellently suited for meeting the demand for ever-more compatible and safer medical products and for implementing new therapeutic concepts," explains Dr. Rosario Lizio, who heads the Medical Devices Project House.