Freudenburg announces TPE Tubing for bioprocessing applications
Freudenberg Medical, a manufacturer of medical and pharmaceutical devices, components and tubing, has introduced HelixFlex, a purity thermoplastic elastomer TPE tubing designed for use in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical applications.
“We are proud to launch our new HelixFlex standard and off-the-shelf tubing product line, which combines all benefits in one product – its weldable, sealable, translucent, and can be used in peristaltic pumping applications,” states Rüdiger Gall, general manager & director corporate marketing at Freudenberg Medical. “With HelixFlex we complement our silicone-based HelixMark and PharmaFocus Premium tubing lines and therefore continue our journey of providing additional products and technologies to our pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical customers as a one-stop-shop. HelixFlex is the next critical milestone in that endeavour, but we promise more news to come soon from Freudenberg Medical.”
Freudenberg Medical recently introduced HelixFlex high purity thermoplastic elastomer TPE tubing adds to it’s existing pharma product portfolio of silicone tubing and fluid transfer products for bioprocessing, drug and vaccine manufacturing, filling and sampling, peristaltic pumping, laboratory, and medical device applications.
“The biggest benefit of HelixFlex is simply that it can be welded, or sealed to other TPE tubing lines, which is a specific requirement of manufacturing process flows in bioprocessing,” says Gall. “HelixFlex can additionally be used in pump applications, such as in peristaltic or roller pumps. It therefore combines both features of being a safe and secure material for fluid transfers and being a safe and secure material for pump applications. One tube therefore fits it all and it takes away the hassle to source specific pump-grade materials and tubing, adding to complexity and binding cash due to sourcing and stocking two tubing types. Silicone is still a great material choice for safe and secure fluid transfer and lines, but unlike TPE, a Silicone tube cannot be welded or sealed, due to its nature of being a cross-linked elastomer.”
The HelixFlex product line will first be manufactured in Freudenberg’s Irish facility in Carrick-on-Shannon, he adds. “A next step would include to start manufacturing at one of our sites in the Americas. Such a production setting would allow our customers to work with a shorter and more local supply chain and support. Of course we would make sure that both sites would mirror their capabilities when it comes to material, processes and quality systems in place.”