DuPont is to form a joint venture with Dutch life sciences and materials sciences company Royal DSM to develop, manufacture and commercialize advanced surgical biomedical materials.
DuPont and DSM will each own a 50 percent interest in the venture, to be called Actamax Surgical Materials LLC.
The joint venture will address the market for surgical sealants, adhesion barriers and tissue adhesives—a market of more than 100 million annual surgical procedures worldwide, in the belief that this market is underserved and that the outcome of many surgical procedures could be positively impacted using next-generation materials under development by the joint venture.
Actamax Surgical Materials will build a comprehensive biomedical product portfolio based on several patent-protected biodegradable hydrogel technologies developed using DuPont materials science and biotechnology capabilities. Commercialization will rely on the medical polymer processing and manufacturing capabilities of DSM.
The joint venture will focus on the clinical validation of the products and technology, and commercialization will include manufacture and sale of proprietary products as well as the establishment of joint development relationships with leading device companies.
"Our platform of technologies will offer physicians and patients improved outcomes of surgery that will prevent post-operative complications while reducing health care costs," said John Ranieri, vice president, DuPont Applied BioSciences.
"Actamax will deliver a number of products that can be optimized for different surgical situations and clinical needs. The success DSM has had in the biomedical materials market makes them an ideal strategic partner for us to commercialize our technology portfolio."
