Foster Corporation, a polymer solutions provider for medical device and pharmaceutical applications, has announced a new business relationship with Aran Biomedical.

Aran, located in Galway, Ireland, provides biomaterial product solutions for implantable medical devices. Foster will work with Aran to market their ProTEX Med, a long-term implantable polypropylene.  

This new partnership is a perfect complement for both companies. Foster will be able to offer its customers ProTEX Med polypropylene to meet long-term, permanent, implantable needs, while Aran will support the product technically and with regulatory backing. Foster currently provides clean room compounding services to companies that require functionality compounded into permanently implantable materials such as bioresorbable polymers, PEEK, sulfones, and other thermoplastics.  

Larry Johnson, vice president business development for Foster, said: “We are well connected to companies that use this type of material. We have a great deal of experience working with customers that need implantable polymers through our unique ability to compound and find solutions. We have found a great partner in Aran, who wants to augment their marketing efforts for ProTEX Med PP polypropylene, by working with Foster to expand their market reach.

“Foster is always seeking new implantable polymers. The permanently implantable polymer market is growing rapidly and continuously needs new products and technologies that enable novel treatments. The expanded presence of Aran’s ProTEX Med polypropylene in the marketplace will provide numerous benefits for patients worldwide.”

Niall Rooney, director of business development for Aran added: “ProTEX Med polypropylene is specifically offered as a custom synthesised, permanently implantable polypropylene product. Support for the product includes access to FDA Master File reference data, certification to technical specifications such as ISO 10993-5 (cytotoxicity - in vitro methods), as well as, suitability to long-term clinical implantation supported by data from derived FDA 510(k) cleared surgical mesh.”