When a cancer patient needs life-saving medical treatment, everything must work as designed, right down to the plastic used in luers and other IV connectors. However, not all materials are created equal. Inferior materials often cannot withstand cleaning agents, nor can they tolerate aggressive solvents found in oncology drugs and other treatments. The result: cracking and damage to critical components.

Makrolon® Rx3440 polycarbonate, a new medical polycarbonate from Covestro LLC, offers superior durability and chemical resistance to help prevent cracking so that health care professionals can more safely deliver oncology drugs to patients.

Compared with other transparent resins used for IV access components, comprehensive lab testing has shown that the polycarbonate provides best-in-class chemical and oncology drug resistance. This material also demonstrates the best retention of stress to provide more reliable IV connections.

Tailored property profile

Makrolon® Rx3440 polycarbonate also offers several other advantages for medical OEMs, including:
• Biocompatible according to ISO 10993-1 and USP Class IV standards
• Greater structural integrity to allow for thin-walled designs
• Toughness to resist mishandling
• Dimensional stability in shipping and storage

A Covestro-designed testing apparatus was instrumental in the development of the polycarbonate and is available to test the chemical resistance of customers’ luer connectors. The novel apparatus provides:
• Immersion under real-life loading
• Adjustable force, allowing accelerated testing

Important need served
“We’ve leveraged our knowledge of this highly regulated market to formulate a material that serves an important need, yet requires minimal validation and requalification by OEMs,” said George Paleos, marketing manager for polycarbonate applications in medical and consumer products at Covestro LLC. “Importantly, we’re also able to provide customer support every step of the way from design and material selection to final approval.”