Bayer MaterialScience Extends its Range

Bayer MaterialScience, a leading polymer company, is to acquire PolyBioMed Ltd, a subsidiary of Lombard Medical Technologies plc, which provides polymer coatings, surface treatments and biomaterials. The acquisition gives Bayer MaterialScience access to application areas such as coronary drug eluting stents and catheter systems for interventional cardiology, urology and neurology.

The acquisition is designed to provide innovative materials that can enhance design, manufacturing and end-use performance for a variety of medical devices. Bayer MaterialScience is looking to further develop its own polyurethane based hydrophilic coatings for medical devices with PolyBioMed’s technologies to offer an extended portfolio of permanent and biodegradable surface modification techniques.

Dr Hans-Wilhelm Engels, Senior Vice President, Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties, Bayer MaterialScience, comments, “This acquisition complements our existing portfolio of coatings technologies for the medical device industry and offers us a significant foothold in this large and growing segment. We will be investing further in coatings application and testing facilities which will significantly expand our services to customers.”

Included in the intellectual property Bayer MaterialScience has acquired are the rights to over 75 patents and patent applications. “Acquiring PolyBioMed’s coatings and surface treatment technologies will allow us to address unmet needs such as improved coatings adhesion on plastics or metal surfaces used in many medical devices,” added Dr Michael Mager, Head of Medical Coatings and Adhesives, Bayer MaterialScience.

Tags: Bayer MaterialScience, PolyBioMed