The overall annual direct medical costs of HAI (Healthcare-Associated Infections) to U.S. hospitals alone reaches $33.8 billion. Numerous factors are driving the global market for safer medical devices including the increasing demand for minimally invasive medical procedures. Medical devices are prone to microbial infections resulting from bacterial attachment, growth, and biofilm formation. A need exists for a coating that can be applied to various devices, to provide antimicrobial properties, while maintaining the device’s safety and biocompatibility.
BacteResistTM has synthesized polyastaxanthins, astaxanthin-based polymers (pATX) developed as a novel, antibacterial coating for Medical devices. Research has delivered repeated successful synthesized high-molecular weight ATX polyarylate copolymers with varying thermal and mechanical properties as a function of the diacid constituent used. These polymers are significantly resistant against all tested strains. pATX also inhibits the formation of biofilm.
– Safer catheters, wound healing, other medical devices.
