MATERIALS | MEDICAL
Did the market for medical polymers exceed
forecasts in 2021? Again it’s a tough call, according to the MPPE: “Some medical devices were needed more – a huge increase – and others less, due to less work in the hospitals”. So there was a see-saw effect: unprecedented demand for products that might slow or curtail the spread of Covid was tempered by a weakening demand for products needed for routine operations that were cancelled as a result of the pandemic. Pricing and supply chain issues aside, the MPPE
Above: PVCMed Alliance is working on projects for hospitals to recycle used PVC products
ened the supply situation across all industries and certainly the medical industry had more attention than in the past for the polymer suppliers deliver- ing in this field. Generally speaking, polyolefins and commodity polymers (ABS, etc.) had a higher demand, while technical polymers were more readily available to the medical sectors because of the crisis in the automotive industry.” Other factors also affected polymer markets in
2021. Restricted movement of peoples and an unseasonably wet summer through much of Europe led to a dip in demand for bottled drinks and which particularly affected the PET market. The rising cost of oil (a 55% hike from Q1 to Q4 2021) has caused pain to manufacturers and consumers alike. Automotive’s woes should have been medici-
ne’s gain in 2021, at least in terms of polymer availability, but there were significant price increas- es for technical polymers that were not entirely attributable to the oil price increase. Instead, although lower demand from automotive freed up supply, the demand from the medical sector itself was simply too high for there not to be inflationary pressure. There is an often-repeated cliché that the Chinese word for “crisis” is also the Chinese word for “opportunity”. The translation is inaccurate, but the sentiment may be correct. Has the pandemic been a catalyst for innovation in the industry? “Probably yes,” the MPPE spokesperson said, “but it is too early to evaluate this phenomenon reliably. Additive manufacturing has shown impressive capabilities in emergency situations, typically coming from small- and mid-sized companies, but also regulatory approach towards innovation in a pandemic situation has shown interesting changes. We should keep the pace and leverage the current situation to innovate even more and quicker. The industry has been strong in finding creative solutions for the supply chain issues, production increases, etc. within the appropriate regulatory frame.”
28 INJECTION WORLD | January/February 2022
thinks the acceleration of regulation necessitated by the global threat of Covid has given us a pointer towards better ways of working. “Good relationship management and long-term contracts showed advantages for all parties throughout the years 2020 and 2021, and it will be interesting to see if and how the regulatory approach can be streamlined beyond the pandemic,” said the spokesperson. Now that large swathes of the global population
are vaccinated and the Omicron variant appears less of a danger than it did towards the end of 2021, the public is expecting an imminent return to normality. Minor medical procedures, postponed for so long, will start again. Patients, having spent two years learning about infection, disease and prevention, are expected to increase demand in the home healthcare market. As a result, according to research from
Fact.MR, reported by Bloomberg, the medical polymers market is set to expand 250% between now and 2031, with commodity polymers continuing to dominate, accounting for 87% of total medical polymer sales. The research group estimates the value of the global medical polymers market was $8.19bn in 2020 and it projects the market to reach $20.1bn in 2031. Add to this a growth of medical polymer applications within medicine, and the overall market is project- ed to show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2% between 2021 and 2031. PVC continued its reign as the top polymer for single-use medical devices, according to research published in September 2021 by Global Market Insights, because of its ease of recycling and, because it is versatile, and can be used as both a rigid and flexible plastic in medical devices that require both rigidity and flexibility, making multi- part devices easier to recycle than ones made of mixed polymers. GMI expects PVC will continue to be the dominant single polymer in the medical market until at least 2027. PVCMed Alliance project manager Ole Grøn- dahl Hansen said: “Covid-19 has highlighted the crucial role played by single-use plastic medical devices in the prevention and control of infection in
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IMAGE: PVCMED ALLIANCE
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