Evonik Welcomes Federal Trade Commission Demanding Open Competition of Implant-Grade Polymer PEEK

Evonik Corporation commends the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent vote to open competition in the U.S. polyetheretherketone (PEEK) market for implant-grade medical applications and welcomes the opportunity to compete fairly in the U.S. implant-grade polymers market.

The FTC issued its decision and proposed consent order for public comment, which sets forth procedures for existing contracts of PEEK-customers to be modified to eliminate the requirement that the customer purchases PEEK for existing products exclusively from the market leader.

Now, all medical companies may soon be in a position to take advantage of the unique attributes of Evonik’s VESTAKEEP^® PEEK, irrespective of their prior exclusive contracts.

“We are very pleased with the FTC ruling,” said Dr. Matthias Kottenhahn, senior vice president and general manager of Evonik’s High Performance Polymers product lines. “This is the right step in creating a fair and even playing field with regard to PEEK in the medical industry.”

“In an industry that prides itself on innovation and technology advancements, medical OEMs will finally be able to purchase our VESTAKEEP^® PEEK product lines which often provide unique advantages over other materials,” said Mr. Vikram Chatur, vice president and general manager of the business in the Americas. “Some of our medical customers have shown certain VESTAKEEP^® PEEK product lines outperform rival PEEK materials they have been contractually obligated to purchase.”

VESTAKEEP^® PEEK has proven to be desirable for medical polymer applications due to its biocompatibility, biostability, high chemical resistance, resistance to sterilization and modulus similar to that of bone. VESTAKEEP^® PEEK has been cleared in almost fifty medical implants through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s 510k process, as well as in devices requiring additional lengthy testing for FDA Premarket Approval, which refers to a device that does not have a predicate clearance in the market which it can be compared to at the time of submission.

Evonik’s strategic growth and investment initiatives in the medical industry include creating next generation biomaterials for medical devices, as well as developing new materials for additive manufacturing processes. Evonik’s medical polymer portfolio has been a leader in technological innovations for decades, and successfully serves the orthopedic, medical device and other medical segments.

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