UMC Utrecht Selects Dyneema Purity® For Heart Valve Development

Biomedical materials science company Royal DSM NV and the University Medical Center of Utrecht (UMC
Utrecht), both based in the Netherlands, have signed a collaborative agreement under which DSM will
provide its Dyneema Purity® fiber technology to UMC Utrecht for the development and evaluation of a
prototype of a non-biological support scaffold for use in minimally invasive treatment of valvular
and vascular disease.

UMC Utrecht selected Dyneema Purity to use in this development based on the fiber’s high
strength and flex fatigue resistance, tear resistance, low elongation, and minimal profile.

“We believe that heart valves with scaffolding made from Dyneema Purity® fibers have the
potential to lead to a revolutionary new solution, giving those dealing with heart disease the
benefit of a less invasive transcatheter heart valve replacement,” said Paul Gründeman, M.D.,
Ph.D., principal investigator, Heart and Lungs Division, UMC Utrecht. “Although we are in a very
early feasibility stage and prototyping only, we believe Dyneema Purity fiber is a very interesting
material to use as basis for this feasibility study.”

March/April 2012

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