Representatives of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Industry and Science of the Sverdlovsk Region have discussed the possibility of expanding the import-substituting manufacture of unique surgical sutures Medin- N

On August 29, 2022, Sergey Perestoronin, the Minister of Industry and Science of the Sverdlovsk Region, and Andrey Shastin, the Deputy Minister of Health of the Sverdlovsk Region, together with the Association of Medical and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of the Sverdlovsk Region visited the production facility of OOO Medin-N, a recognized leader in the production of surgical needles and sutures in Russia, and also discussed the possibility of scaling up the production of absorbable medical polymers to provide the country with absorbable surgical sutures made in the Urals.

For more than 25 years, Medin-N has been supplying suture material to all regions of Russia. During the visit, Vladimir Zhdanov, the director of the company, presented the production of absorbable surgical suture materials, means for rehabilitation in traumatology, and medical devices used in the IVF procedure, which is unique for Russia. The Medin-N enterprise produces atraumatic surgical needles, more than two thousand combinations of non-absorbable and absorbable surgical sutures and medical products, such as an endoloop with a pusher for laparoscopic operations, needles for transvaginal follicle puncture, and sets of devices for infusion into small veins. According to Vladimir Zhdanov, the company is currently producing 2,000 kilometers of absorbable sutures per year, which covers 10-12% of the Russian market demand.

Medin-N specialists have created and successfully brought to the market 8 innovative products, including braided absorbable surgical sutures Sabfil, absorbable monofilament Sabmon for pediatric, cardiac and oncological surgery. The enterprise is the main supplier of Leypunsky Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE) for the manufacture of absorbable strands for brachytherapy of prostate cancer. Currently, OOO Medin-N is the only Russian manufacturer of absorbable surgical sutures with a full production cycle from the simplest chemical reagents. Absorbable polymers have been used to develop innovative medical products for eye microsurgery: plug nail, lacrimal prosthesis.

Sergey Perestoronin, the Minister of Industry and Science of the Sverdlovsk Region, appreciated the uniqueness of Medin-N products and noted the need to create a new high-tech workshop for their manufacture.

«Our companies have unique competencies and can fill the niches vacated by manufacturers from unfriendly countries. Medin-N has its own chemical production of absorbable polymers, as well as the extrusion production of fibers for the manufacture of surgical sutures. The company cooperates with the Postovsky Institute of Organic Synthesis of the Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has eight patents for inventions in the field of synthesis of absorbable polymers, absorbable surgical sutures and implants on their basis. Today's realities require the rapid expansion of production, we are ready to actively contribute, there are financial and administrative resources for this,» Sergey Perestoronin said.

Today, at various stages of certification, there are dozens of analogues of foreign products manufactured by Medin-N, such as absorbable screws and pins for osteosynthesis, material for replacing bone defects based on calcium hydroxyapatite, non- absorbable monofilament Eplen, as well as our own developments – combined braided sutures Polybiolavsan and Polybiocapron capable of replacing a wide range of other sutures.

Yury Potapenko, surgeon, head of the operating unit of the 9th City Children's Hospital, told the meeting that for more than 20 years, the Medin-N enterprise has been cooperating with regional surgeons in the development of new medical products. According to him, the activity of the enterprise, aimed at conducting research work together with the Academy of Sciences, allows 99% to abandon imported suture material, and in a year — a year and a half to abandon imported products completely.

According to the estimates of the Ministry of Industry and Science of the Sverdlovsk Region, the expansion of the Ural production will cover up to 70% of the country's demand for absorbable surgical suture materials.

During the visit to the Medin-N production facility, the visitors highly appreciated the innovativeness of the products and the level of import substitution of the enterprise, expressing confidence in the promising and fruitful cooperation and guaranteeing comprehensive support from the Association of Medical and Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, the Ural Biomedical Cluster and the Ministries of the Sverdlovsk