PolyVation developed a process for the manufacture of novel high performance PLA. PLA -Poly(Lactic Acid) or also named Poly(Lactide)- is by far the most popular polymer in use nowadays for biodegradable medical devices and keeps growing in popularity. PLA is especially popular to utilize for load-bearing devices, such as bone plates, screws and pins.
The ideal high performance PLA balances high molecular weight and crystallinity for high strength and stiffness with biocompatible degradability geared towards healing of the supported tissue. In the perfect world this would mean that the degradation rate of the PLA is tuneable while not affecting the mechanical properties. It is well accepted that the crystallinity of PLA has major influence on the biodegradation properties. High crystallinity is favorable for mechanical properties, but not really for biodegradation. Semi-crystalline, high molecular weight PLA's, available today, degrade very slowly often up to many years. For most tissue healing applications this is far too long. Although slow degradation could be fine in terms of biocompatibility, for the best tissue healing effect, any biomaterial should dismantle as quickly as possible once the tissue has healed. This is exactly the philosophy behind PolyVation's high performance PLA. Our PLA combines high performance in mechanical behavior with high performance in biocompatible degradation. The degradation rate is adjustable without cannibalizing high strength and stiffness.
We baptized this new fantastic family of PLA: Platimer™. It is the platinum polymer amongst the PLA's. Working with Platimer™ will impress you. The polymer is made in nice free flowing granulate, powder or a mixture thereof. Granule size can be geared towards your device forming process.
PolyVation is an ISO 13485 certified corporation and we custom manufacture biomedical specialty polymers according the EU and US FDA guidelines for current Good Manufacturing Practices.
We can fully customize PLA's to your requirements. Also if you have your own (preferred) biomedical polyester and need a partner to manufacture it then do not hesitate to contact us. We would love to do it.
*Platimer™ is a registered trademark of PolyVation.