Pharmaceutical industry

Fluoropolymers are non-corrosive and are excellent insulators, which is crucial for the safe operation of electronic components in pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. Their low permeability to gases and liquids ensures the integrity of containers and vessels used for storing sensitive pharmaceutical compounds, protecting against contamination and loss of potency. The low surface energy of fluoropolymers results in non-stick characteristics, which prevent materials from adhering to surfaces. This is advantageous in applications like tubing and seals, where it reduces the risk of contamination and facilitates easier cleaning. Their exceptional resistance to a wide range of chemicals, including acids, bases, and solvents, makes them ideal for use in environments where they may come into contact with aggressive chemicals, ensuring longevity and reducing maintenance costs for pharmaceutical equipment. Their thermal stability is, in turn, crucial in pharmaceutical processes that require extreme temperatures, such as sterilization and cryogenic storage.

In the European biopharmaceutical manufacturing sector alone, €270 million was saved in 2012 compared to 2008 from contamination and material failure reductions. Such improvements can be attributed to a range of factors, but fluoropolymers play an important role in these efficiency gains.

Fluoropolymers are key enablers of innovation, including increased efficiency in the pharmaceutical sector, by enhancing safety, efficiency, and the reliability of pharmaceutical processes and products. All their properties provide many benefits including:

• High Efficiency Dry Powder Inhaler: Coating the inhaler and capsule with fluoropolymers significantly increased the emitted dose.

Fluoropolymers are crucial for many applications in the food and pharma sectors due to their unique properties.

Their non-wetting and non-stick properties and high resistance to extreme temperatures provide a number of benefits including:

Increased lifetime of components

Lower cleaning and maintenance costs

Increased productivity

by enabling the production of multiple products with the same equipment, reducing failures and improving flow of process substances

Higher production yields and quality from improved purity of process substances

Health benefits from high purity and hygiene standards, lower health risks from cross contamination and avoiding over- or under-dosage of pharmaceuticals

Lower levels and risk of exposure of workforce and environment to chemicals, including avoiding leaks

Prolonged preservation of the product

Combination of steam, heat, chemical and UV resistance enabling efficient sterilisation

Fluoropolymers are key enablers of innovation in the food and pharmaceutical sectors.  Perhaps most importantly to society as a whole, they allow for reduced food waste and increased efficiency of pharmaceuticals.

• High Efficiency Dry Powder Inhaler: Coating the inhaler and capsule with fluoropolymers significantly increased the emitted dose.