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PHAs are still far from joining the competitive level of production costs compared to petroleum-based polymers such as PP or PE. Hence, currently, PHAs can be only considered for advanced applications, in which they cannot be replaced by petroleum-based polymers. Correspondingly, PHAs are well-suited for any application that requires biocompatibility and/or biodegradability of the polymer. Notably, purity requirements are high for such applications, and the removal of impurities, such as endotoxins, further increases the production costs. For medical applications, in particular the homopolymers PHB and PHV as well as the statistical copolymer PHB-stat-PHV have been investigated.

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1. PHA which contains 4HB monomer such as P(3HB-co-4HB) is suitable for biodegradable drug carrier.
2. PHA is also an interesting class of biomaterials for the development of tissue-engineered cardiovascular products.
3. PHA can be used as stereoregular compounds which can serve as chiral precursors for the chemical synthesis of optically active compounds.

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The Application of PHA

1. Packaging films (for food packages), bags, containers, paper coatings.

2. Biodegradable carrier for long-term dosage of drugs, medicines, insecticides, herbicides, insecticides or fertilizers.

3. Disposable items such as razors, utensils, diapers, feminine hygiene products, cosmetics containers, shampoo bottles, cups etc.

4. Starting material for chiral compounds.

5. Medical applications – Surgical pins, sutures, staples, swabs, wound dressings, bone replacements & plates and blood vessel replacements, Stimulation of bone growth by piezoelectric properties.

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-An obvious medical application for the polymer is for scaffolding material in tissue engineering.

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The application of polyhydroxyalkanoates in the medical industry

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The application of polyhydroxyalkanoates in the medical industry

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-PHA are intracellularcarbon storage mechanism for many species of microorganism.
-PHA is generally produced by organisms in environments when carbon is plentiful but other nutrients are limiting.
-PHA is made by microorganisms and can easily be broken down by them
-PHA can be produced commercially by fermentation of microorganisms in the presence of an inexpensive carbon source.
-For use in medical applications, materials must be bio compatible, which means they cannot cause severe immune reactions when introduced to soft tissues or blood of a host organism.
-PHA materials must also not elicit immune responses during degradation in the body to be considered biocompatible.