Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation has announced that its medical-grade thermoplastic elastomer, Zelas TPS, has been adopted for the cell culture tubes in Sanplatec Corporation's iP-TEC series, a, solution for regenerative medicine. These high-performance, flexible tubes were showcased at the 25th Congress of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine.

Mitsubishi Chemical leverages years of expertise in advanced formulation to produce Zelas, a high-performance, medical-grade thermoplastic styrenic elastomer (TPS). Known for superior rubber elasticity and reliability, Zelas TPS is a proven material for medical device tubing, pharmaceutical packaging, and other high-hygiene applications.

In the field of regenerative medicine, high-quality cell culture performance is required for iPS cells and mesenchymal stem cells; Zelas TPS demonstrates superior iPS cell proliferation properties compared with polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

In addition to its excellent culture performance, Zelas TPS was evaluated favorably for its excellent culture performance, as well as its compatibility with autoclave sterilization and gamma irradiation sterilization (25 kGy), and its heat-sealability—features that are essential for constructing closed-loop cell culture systems, for which demand is growing, leading to its selection for this application.

Sanplatec is leading the industry in the field of containers and devices for cell culture and live transport by providing integrated solutions from cell culture to transportation. In this case, Zelas TPS will be used as a material to make thermoplastic elastomer tubes for cell cultures, and will be marketed under iP-TEC brand.

Under the management vision of KAITEKI Vision 35, Mitsubishi Chemical Group has identified “Technology and equipment for new therapeutics” as one of the business focus areas. Going forward, Mitsubishi Chemical will continue to advance further the technological development of thermoplastic elastomer, while accelerating the expansion of Zelas in the field of regenerative medicine and strengthening its contributions to the medical and life sciences sectors.