VTC TPE Group announces record growth in Medical sales
The VTC TPE Group, the thermoplastic elastomer division of the Vita Compounding Group, has announced a 22 % increase in volume sales of their Medical compounds in 2007.
The growth has been pushed by high demand for the groups Mediprene range of TPEs, which has seen year on year expansion since its launch in 2004. Mediprene grades for medical device applications offer many advantages; they are sterilizable with gamma, EtO and steam and representative grades have passed cytotoxicity tests according to ISO 10993-5 and biocompatibility tests according to USP Class VI. Mediprene thermoplastic elastomers have also proven to be strong alternatives as replacement for PVC, they are completely synthetic and latex free thereby minimizing allergy risks.
Particular area of high demand has been the group’s ultra-soft, Zero Shore A rated Mediprene TPE compound, its unique softness and cushioning properties enhance patient comfort and it is being used successfully in various respiratory and wound care applications.
Niklas Ottosson, medical technical manager at VTC TPE Group commented on the growth: “The Mediprene brand has been a real success for VTC TPE. We have a strict raw material selection strategy, only allowing raw materials that, from a biocompatibility point of view, are highly qualified. The raw materials are then compounded together under clean conditions with high consistency. The success of Mediprene is also due, in part, to the technical support we give our customers and the knowledge about medical customer requirements and medical device regulations that we have developed.”
VTC TPE Group has invested heavily in Mediprene, in 2006 the Group spent €3.7 million to increase production capacity at VTC Elastoteknik, Sweden, who received ISO 13485:2003 accreditation in 2007.
Ottosson continues: “Exciting times lie ahead for Mediprene with continued growth very much on the agenda. We are forecasting future growth in our medical tubing grades which were developed to challenge PVC tubing properties in terms of transparency, damping and kinking.”
Niklas Ottosson has been invited to speak at the ‘Plastics in Medical Devices 2008’ conference being held in Brussels in April. Ottosson will be presenting a paper focusing on aspects of styrenic based TPE compounds and compounding seen from a medical perspective.
ENDS
For further information about this press release please contact
Jill Bradford
Marketing & PR Manager
Tel: +44 (0) 161 655 2613
jbradford@vitacompounding.com
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