Bayer MaterialScience Expands UK Coating Capabilities

Nothing succeeds like success, as the saying goes, and here’s more proof. Bayer MaterialScience LLC announced at the MD&M East show and conference in New York yesterday that it has made significant improvements to its Medical Coatings Development Centre in Sheffield, UK. (It acquired the site earlier this year when it purchased Polybiomed, a subsidiary of Lombard Medical Technologies plc).

In particular, Bayer MaterialScience has expanded its capacity for conducting feasibility studies and customer development support. The recent introduction of Baymedix C in Europe and the United States prompted a flurry of customer requests, explained Paul Nowatzki, PhD, Business Development, Medical Coatings. “Before, we were only able to send samples and explain the Baymedix CH hydrophilic polyurethane coating technology to customers.” With the upgraded Sheffield facility, which is solely dedicated to Baymedix C coatings for medical devices, Bayer MaterialScience now can apply its own capabilities and know-how to help customers take the first step toward evaluation, Nowatzki added.

The company increased staffing at the facility, notably adding a full-time process engineer who will help to scale up manufacturing processes using Baymedix coating products. The scale-up process is important to customers, notes the company, and implementation support is deemed a crucial element of success.

Bayer MaterialScience also made a capital investment: it installed new dip coating equipment that allows samples measuring up to 140 cm long to be processed. This will enable the company to apply coatings to full-length cardiovascular catheters.

The supplier of polymers and high-performance plastics also announced the addition of a dry-out resistant lubricious coating to its Baymedix portfolio at MDM East. Once wetted, Baymedix CL 300 can be exposed to air for as much as 10 minutes before it begins to lose lubricity. The new coating is a good option in otherwise challenging applications such as acidic environments with a pH of less than 5 or for devices that are exposed to air for long periods of time, said Nowatzki.

Tags: Bayer MaterialScience, Baymedix, coatings