Invibio and Paragon Collaborate to Support PEEK Based Trauma Devices

Invibio Biomaterial Solutions, part of Victrex plc and developer of PEEK biomaterial solutions, announced a new collaboration with Paragon Medical, a medical device contract design manufacturer, to manufacture composite PEEK-OPTIMA ultra-reinforced medical trauma devices.
 
This collaboration coincides with Paragon Medical’s recent expansion in their manufacturing facility in Changzhou, China. This space has been dedicated for this joint venture. Invibio is seeing a demand that exceeds initial expectations and the arrangement with Paragon Medical will support the scale up of PEEK-OPTIMA ultra-reinforced composite facture fixation devices. 
 
Invibio has developed novel materials and intellectual property to optimize the design and development of PEEK-OPTIMA ultra-reinforced parts and supports customers with regulatory approval. 
 
This collaboration with Paragon Medical can provide Invibio customers with additional medical composite manufacturing facilities to help with the growing customer demand for these products. 
 
“We are delighted to be working with Invibio to increase production of their innovative devices which can help to drive imported patient outcomes globally,” said Paragon Medical CEO Wil Borgen.
 
PEEK based medical devices have been successfully implanted for over 20 years, and Invibio states PEEK-OPTIMA ultra-reinforced trauma plates have an increased fatigue lifetime, tailored stiffness, and improved imaging in order to treat more challenging patient populations. 
 
Osteoporosis, diabetes, or obesity have increased in recent years, and these patient risk factors affect the fracture healing process, which in turn increases the challenges for traditional titanium nails and plates to successfully heal. Increased risk of delayed union or non-union may be reduced by using plates made from PEEK-OPTIMA ultra-reinforced materials through their ability to tailor the stiffness of the device and its increased fatigue lifetime, as stated by Invibio.
 
“With a broad operating footprint in Europe, China and America, Paragon Medical are an attractive company to work with, dealing with evolving supply chain strategies within the medical device industry,” explained Victrex CEO Jakob Sigurdsson. “Trauma is one of Victrex’s key mega-programs, where we see significant growth opportunities over the years ahead and the opportunity to enhance patient outcomes. Clinical data on PEEK based trauma plates is already encouraging and initial demand is exceeding our expectations. We have invested over several years now and bring a wealth of intellectual property in this area. Paragon Medical will help us support manufacturing scale up, and they bring an excellent reputation as one of the world’s premier medical contract manufacturers. We are delighted to work with them to grow the composite trauma space and to make it easier for medical device companies to adopt this technology.”