Medical products firm Zila Inc. of Phoenix has sold its molded products subsidiary Zila Swab Technologies Inc. back to its original owner. The company, renamed Great Midwest Packaging LLC, is based out of one facility in Antioch, Ill.
``Our objective in acquiring it was to bring unique single-unit-dose packages on a contract manufacturing basis to the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries,'' said Darrell VanDyke, one of the firm's two major partners, in an Aug. 2 telephone interview.
In 1989, VanDyke founded Gam-Med Packaging Corp., which was the forerunner to Zila.
``I have now come home,'' VanDyke said. Michael Kittendorf is the other major partner. The pair acquired the business July 21.
Zila Inc. had purchased the Swab operation in 2001, said G. Warren Chane Jr., Zila vice president of business development. The operation uses a proprietary process called fusion molding to make thin-wall tubes with very thin and uniform walls. Zila is shedding the business to focus on its cancer-detection technologies.
``The timing of acquiring this particular business unit was perfect,'' VanDyke said. ``Our strategy is to expand and grow it into a major manufacturer of unique unit doses.''
Great Midwest's facility is 15,000 square feet with 13 employees. VanDyke said he and Kittendorf plan to expand the plant during the next several years.
