The
Product
RANIER Technology Limited has developed a polyurethane condom that delivers
a new standard of user sensitivity with enhanced safety. RANIER has used its
advanced technology to design a condom with a materials and process solution
which will be of significant interest to companies manufacturing and marketing
condoms at present. There is an opportunity to market a premium
product of up to half current rubber latex condom thickness with equivalent
or better strength. Whilst the concept of a polyurethane condom is not new,
RANIER has been able to utilise its unique PPM materials
technology to produce condoms down to 30 µm thickness with a relatively
low cost process, similar to the manufacturing process used for rubber latex
condoms. Condom manufacturers will, for the first time, have the opportunity
to produce low thickness, high sensitivity products, without latex allergy
concerns, at an affordable cost.
Not only has RANIER achieved new levels of thinness but its processes deliver product with a significantly lower cost base than any other polyurethane condom manufacturing process currently available. The combination of customer benefit and lower cost will give RANIER’s product the potential to achieve a premium position in the condom market with high margins for a highly profitable business.
Current
Development Status
RANIER has completed the development of materials and processes to
manufacture a 50µm condom, including the initial regulatory testing. Current
work is focussed on the materials development required to provide a
'super-strong' 30µm condom.
Intellectual
Property
RANIER owns the know-how as well as material patents for its polyurethane
condom materials and manufacturing processes. RANIER believes that it is
currently unlikely that other materials and processes will achieve the same
level of performance. In particular, RANIER believes that the continuous
manufacture of a high-strength 30 µm thickness condom will not be possible
without Ranier's patented PPM technology.
Commercialisation
The growth in the market for polyurethane/synthetic male condoms is exciting.
Frost and Sullivan predict 64.1% average annual volume growth rate in the
USA alone. Compound annual volume growth for latex condoms over the same period
is estimated to be 2.1%. Increased activity and new product launches in this
area are predicted to stimulate aggressive growth over the next five years.
The branded latex condom market size is around £700m per annum and RANIER's plans assume that initially, partners will achieve a useful percentage of this market. The projected exponential growth of the polyurethane market will make this proposition particularly attractive. Collaborators will benefit from the low manufacturing cost of the RANIER process which will allow for significant commercial leverage over competitors once rubber latex product is replaced and polyurethane-based products become the commodities in this category. Development costs will be low for the collaborator and most of the current rubber latex manufacturing equipment will be reusable or adaptable to the RANIER processes.
