Sefratech Supplies Advanced Separation Membrane Manufacturing Equipment for Artificial Lung Core Materials to Chinese Company

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] On the 24th, Enbionia announced that Sepratech, which it decided to acquire on the 9th, has signed a supply contract worth $960,000, approximately 1 billion KRW, with InnovaPath Medtech, a subsidiary of Microport (HK 00853), a global Chinese medical device group, for equipment capable of manufacturing artificial lung membranes.

The equipment supplied by Sepratech is known to manufacture membranes, the core material of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), an artificial lung. The equipment is of a size suitable for both lab and pilot production, and it is expected that after the client completes R&D on post-processing, discussions for supplying mass production equipment will follow upon the client’s request.

ECMO is an advanced medical device that supplies oxygen to the patient’s blood and removes waste such as carbon dioxide from the blood outside the body using an artificial lung and blood pump. It is used for patients with severe heart failure or lung failure who cannot be treated with ventilators. In ECMO, the membrane is the core material that selectively separates waste like carbon dioxide and oxygen. Until now, these membranes have been monopolistically supplied by global material companies overseas, such as those in Germany.

The ECMO membranes incorporate Sepratech’s unique Membrane Contactor technology. This technology is characterized by high selective separation efficiency and rapid separation speed. It can be applied not only to medical use but also to membrane processes essential in advanced industries such as semiconductors and environmental fields. Sepratech explained that through continuous research and development and securing supply channels, it plans to grow into a leading company in the membrane market across various industrial sectors.

A Sepratech official stated, “This export contract to China does not grant exclusive rights to the technology,” and added, “We hope that our core membrane technology for ECMO will lead to opportunities contributing to the localization of advanced medical device materials.”

An Enbionia official said, “From next year, Sepratech’s management performance will be reflected in Enbionia’s consolidated results,” and added, “As projects currently under discussion with leading domestic and international companies become more visible, they will contribute to improving Enbionia’s performance.”