Many of today's pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities must be flexible to produce multiple products while meeting both traditional and growing needs for product purity, cleanability, durability and low maintenance costs.

To meet these demands, engineers are turning to piping, components and vessels made with DuPont fluoropolymers. Traditional stainless steel and glass no longer deliver the best results.

Teflon® PTFE, Teflon® PFA, Teflon® FEP and Tefzel® ETFE are strong candidates for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical processing equipment because they have excellent chemical and thermal resistance. Their molecules have continuous non-reactive surfaces and are compatible with virtually all chemicals and solvents. Because Teflon® is non-reactive, there are no corrosion byproducts or extractables to contaminate processes. Teflon® is extremely pure, and it resists sorption of chemicals. They are far more resistant to chemical attack than conventional chlorinated and hydrocarbon polymers, and have far higher service temperatures.

Teflon® provides smooth non-wetting hydrophobic surfaces that resist biofilm buildup, and it can be used with the strongest cleaning solutions and steam-in-place processes. Surfaces of Teflon® are easy to clean, and because they resist buildup of process materials, it may be possible to extend intervals between cleanings.