Plastics News correspondent Roger Renstrom wrote the following items from the multidiscipline UBM Canon trade shows held Feb. 14-16 in Anaheim, Calif.
Cynvenio spins off BioMolded subsidiary
Newly formed BioMolded Products LLC is producing specialized products for parent Cynvenio Biosystems Inc. and making medical-grade, blow molded plastic parts for others.
In November, biotechnology firm Cynvenio established BioMolded as a subsidiary, said Steve Roy, BioMolded Products general manager. BioMolded occupies 7,000 square feet of space in Cynvenio's 15,000-square-foot facility in Westlake Village, Calif.
BioMolded's initial output involves Cynvenio's LiquidBiopsy-brand kits for collecting blood samples. A doctor can ship a kit to a processing laboratory without refrigerating the sample, according to André de Fusco, Cynvenio CEO.
BioMolded Products employs four among Cynvenio's total of 20 and, as a turnkey supplier, offers custom mold making, engineering support and prototyping.
Cynvenio is developing high-performance medical instrumentation for blood-based cancer diagnostics and molecular analysis
Lubrizol introduces new TPU grades
For medical applications, Wickliffe, Ohio-based Lubrizol Corp. launched grades of pre-colored Isoplast-brand thermoplastic polyurethane resin and low-density, hydrophobic Tecothane Soft TPU.
Lubrizol saw a need to add differentiating colors as well as additives during Isoplast polymerization to avoid an additional heat history. Previously, Isoplast TPU was available only in natural tone.
The project started in early 2011 through a pilot line in a La Porte, Texas, plant, said Deb Langer, general manager of life-science polymers with Lubrizol Advanced Materials Inc. in Cleveland. Isoplast TPU is also offered in white for non-implantable uses.
The non-traditional Tecothane Soft technology eliminates the need for plasticizers to produce softer grades of material for medical and health-care applications. Significantly reduced amounts of lubricant result in TPUs with relatively low tack.
Development of the hydrophobic TPUs began in 2010. The first full production run began in 2011's fourth quarter, Langer said.
Separately, Lubrizol completed its acquisition of TPU maker Merquinsa Mercados Químicas SL of Barcelona, Spain, in December and aims to integrate products including an Eco line of sugar-based TPUs during 2012. Mer- quinsa has about 100 employees.
Lubrizol employs about 7,000, has plants in 17 countries and generated 2010 sales of $5.4 billion. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. of Omaha, Neb., acquired Lubrizol for $9.7 billion in September.
Kraiburg delivers resin to customers
Kraiburg TPE Corp. of Duluth, Ga., offers a service delivery package to customers for its Thermolast M line of thermoplastic elastomers for medical and pharmaceutical applications.
“We have global agreements with raw material suppliers” and, in turn, it delivers to customers Thermolast M materials in the same form for two years, said Terry Freeman, medical product manager for Kraiburg TPE Americas.
Thermolast M is compounded on dedicated lines at the Waldkraiburg, Germany, headquarters facility of parent firm Kraiburg TPE GmbH & Co. KG.
The range of Thermolast M hydrogenated styrene block copolymer-based thermoplastic elastomers can replace conventional elastomers for resealing applications, medical packaging and puncture membranes. The compounds are useful in two-part injection molding, unlike other elastomers or silicone compounds.
Freeman said medical accounts for less than 5 percent of Kraiburg's U.S. TPE sales, but may exceed 7 percent in another year. Consumer goods represent 70 percent of Kraiburg TPE's U.S. sales.
Kraiburg TPE in the Americas employs 60 and operates three compounding lines in a 100,000-square-foot facility.