SusMer, Inc.

SusMer, Inc. is an early phase Colorado company established to profitably commercialize an infinitely recyclable plastics technology that was developed in the Center for Sustainable Monomers and Polymers at Colorado State University. SusMer, Inc. has secured a global exclusive license from CSU, to continue to develop, manufacture, sell, sub-license, and globally commercialize this technology platform. SusMer, Inc. is developing a novel technology to create chemically recyclable bioplastics whereby monomer starting materials are recovered with virgin quality and in high yield at the bioplastic’s end of life for reuse again through low energy, closed-loop chemical recycling. The SusMer’s bioplastic polymers offer competitive performance advantages versus petroleum-based plastics such as PET and LDPE, and superior robust barrier, thermal, and mechanical properties performance advantages to other bio-based plastic polymers such as PLA and PHB. The market customers indicate there is high desirability for a bioplastic that has improved mechanical and barrier properties than PLA, especially when it comes to water vapor. The polymer SusMer is commercializing has very favorable mechanical and barrier performance characteristics than PLA on these variables. Our next two years will be focused on providing material samples to early adopters to validate our product-market fit before raising capital for some Capital Expenditures such as depolymerization machines and larger reactors.

SusMer is currently focusing on providing next generation polymers to the medical devices market.  There is currently a lack of scalable material solutions available for surgical meshes, sutures, valves, and films.  Also, the industry is moving towards P4HB material solutions since it naturally degrades in the human body as hernia mesh removal surgeries are becoming more and more popular.  SusMer’s chemical process yields less impurities ~100% pure P4HB.  Our unique process offers economies of scale to corporate customers versus the existing microbial process.  After the only P4HB manufacturer in the industry, Tepha, was acquired by Becton Dickenson (BD) in 2021, BD made a public statement that all of their future medical device R&D would utilize P4HB.  

The existing process currently has a few problems such as 

• Highly energy intensive and can’t happen overnight -> high COGS
• Scalability is very difficult with plant based P4HB -> difficult supply chain
• Lack of control in molecular weights, and mechanical properties -> product variability and low yields
• High viscosity -> hard to handle, not user friendly
• Tedious purification procedures -> High COGS, requires high CapEx’s

Our proprietary solution is focused on existing P4HB manufacturing and QA challenges. Our biobased, biodegradable, infinitely recyclable monomers and polymers are Green-friendly, too.  The next 1-2 years will be focused on material development, small scale manufacturing, and customer qualifications.  The next 2 – 5 years will be around global channel development, pilot manufacturing to licensees, and FDA approval process.  

We are currently qualifying a/multiple Medical Device Industry Partner(s) such as Becton, Dickinson, and Co. (BD), Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Atrium Medical, Gore, LifeCell, Covidien, etc.  We are about to wrap up our Phase II STTR grant with the Department of Energy (DOE) and are in the process of applying for a Phase IIA with the DOE, an accelerated Phase I/Phase II grant with the National Science Foundation (NSF), an Advanced Industries grant with the state of Colorado, and prospecting raising a Seed round investment to accelerate our time to market.

In summary, we are commercializing Cleantech discoveries from Colorado State University and the Chen Research Group.  These technologies are novel solutions for companies seeking an alternative to existing P4HB technologies used in surgical applications and beyond.  We are seeking strategic investors/industry partners to help us grow and gain market share.