Evonik Industries, a German specialty chemical company, has announced that it will implement capacity enhancement programs at its Birmingham plant in Alabama and Darmstadt plant in Germany. The move aims to expand the production capacity of biodegradable polymer products under the two brands RESOMER® and RESOMER® SELECT. PLGA, a polylactic acid-glycolic acid copolymer, is mainly used in the production of bioabsorbable medical materials and controlled-release preparations for parenteral mucosa.
For the Birmingham plant, in addition to building a new building next to the existing plant to expand production capacity, the plan also includes the addition of a clean room and a research laboratory to support the polymer research and development project. The plant is expected to complete expansion and put into trial operation by the end of 2018.
As for the Darmstadt plant, the transformation will take two steps. The first is to add a new production line to increase production capacity; the second is to set up a second similar laboratory in Darmstadt at the end of this year after the first application technology laboratory was established in Shanghai in 2015. Provide customers with timely and reliable technical support and related training in the field of materials.
Looking back on the recent development process, the Darmstadt plant was first built, and then the Birmingham plant was expanded. To meet growing market needs, Evonik has invested heavily in biomaterials in just two years. Paul Spencer, the head of the relevant business of the group, explained the following: "We have foreseen the global market demand for biodegradable polymers will continue to grow in the next few years, so the group decided to increase investment and expand production to better serve Customers worldwide. "