Global market for medical polymers used for medical applications to grow

04-Mar-16

Global markets for medical polymers used for medical applications, including developing implants, diagnostic systems, and hospital labware is estimated to grow, as per a report by n-tech Research. Some of the highlights include: • Implants currently consume about half the medical polymers produced and are expected to account for around US$1.7 bln in polymer sales by 2021. Polymers have been penetrating the implant market because they are lower cost and lighter weight than metal alternatives, such as titanium. But they also benefit from aging population and enabling technologies, especially medical imaging. • Similar trends are driving the markets for polymers used in diagnostic systems will reach more US$1 bln in 2021. Diagnostic technologies are an inevitable part of health management programs today and currently most diagnostic procedures are rapid, multi-assays in which plastics have become indispensable. The growth prospects in this sector are thus especially strong. • Medical polymer revenues are spread over a large range of polymers. By far the biggest contributor to revenues is PMMA, which will generate US$745 million in 2021. PS/styrenics, LDPE and PEEK are also important commercial medical polymers – combined, these four types of polymer will account for 54% of the medical polymer market by 2021. The report also identifies some high margin markets. • The last decade has also seen the rise of biodegradable polymers and n-tech believes that current trend indicate that, entire prostheses soon will be developed from these materials. While they will not be used to manufacture diagnostic products, biodegradable polymers will be incorporated into implants and even some clinical labware. There is also some additional interest in discovering new biodegradable polymers for medical applications, but investment in this area is limited due to the need to complete extensive long-term studies in order to validate new materials.