Innovative Uses Of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Polymers For Advancing Healthcare

By Jose D. Reyes, Celanese Corporation

Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) has a long and successful history of innovation in medical packaging, medical devices, and pharmaceutical applications. In fact, EVA has been an innovative force in those applications for over 35 years and continues its innovation legacy through enablement of solutions in areas of ever increasing challenges. New solutions are required for continually improving patient healthcare. This paper will examine the evolutionary role of EVA innovation in diverse applications ranging from its early use in parenteral applications for delivery of life saving medications to cryogenic storage bags for stem cells used in the emerging field of cell therapy to controlled release of small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and finally as an innovative gastroretentive delivery vehicle for controlled release of large molecule therapeutics for the high growth field of biologics and personalized medicine. It is the simplicity of the molecular architecture of EVA which leads to its ability to create innovative solutions to some of healthcare’s most challenging and complex problems. Case studies will provide an illustration of each of these applications.

We are living at a time when healthcare is undergoing exciting new developments and innovations. The medical device industry and the pharmaceutical industry are developing innovative products which provide for better patient care and improved quality of life. Also, and of no surprise, the two industries have applications in common as well as areas of uniqueness. For example, an intravenous (IV) bag containing drugs illustrates where a medical device and pharmaceutical product work together in support of patient needs. For an application where a medical device and a pharma product work independent of one another, one may consider a sleep apnea device versus a tablet containing an API. Here, the sleep apnea device does not contain a pharma product and the tablet (pharma product) is not part of a medical device.