Clariant to feature new polymer compounds at MD&M West

Clariant is marking the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Mevopur ‘medical-grade’ materials portfolio with the introduction of a theme: The Colour of Innovation - The Science of Design.

It will be the focus of the company’s exhibit at this year’s MD&M West which takes place from 11-13 February in Anaheim, California.

The new branding is aimed at capturing the nature of the Mevopur family of products and services, encompassing compounds and concentrates, medical and pharma regulatory support, and support with change control embedded in the GMP quality system.

Steve Duckworth, global head or marketing & business development, said: “Even after 10 years, no other company in the plastics industry has anything like Mevopur. We apply multi-industry problem-solving expertise grounded in deep technical and regulatory knowledge to help ensure the safety, compliance and performance of our customers’ products throughout the manufacturing process and beyond—so they can get to market on time and on budget.”

All Mevopur materials – including colour and additive concentrates and ‘ready-to-use’ polymer compounds – are produced in three EN:ISO13485-2016 registered facilities and have been pre-tested to support compliance needs of customers in US and Europe. In the last few years, Clariant has invested heavily to boost compounding capacity at its plant in Lewiston, Maine (USA), and will soon announce expansions in Asia as well.

At MD&M West, Clariant will feature a new line of polymer compounds specially formulated to resist degradation caused by exposure to high humidity and temperature. The new technology is especially important in applications like catheters that are made of resins that incorporate high loadings of radiopaque metals.                                        

These fillers make devices visible under X-ray fluoroscopy, but they also are known to exacerbate hydrolytic degradation, which can affect critical performance properties and compromise patient safety. 

Also on display will be another new range of Mevopur compounds demonstrating Clariant’s capability to modify a given resin family to bring enhanced functionality. Compounds of opaque and transparent ABS have been formulated with antistatic properties, high contrast laser-marking; optically transparent laser-absorbing and -transmitting compounds for laser-welding, and gloss black with improved scratch resistance.

Duckworth added: “In the medical device and pharmaceutical packaging segments, it is not enough to create an attractive-looking product. Your product must meet all the rapidly changing regulatory requirements, while performing reliably over time. Applying Quality by Design (QbD) principles, we believe that every decision you make on plastic materials in the early development stages represents an opportunity to meet these challenges and avoid problems later in the validation or life-cycle.”