Bayer MaterialScience Expands Medical Coatings Development Centre

Bayer MaterialScience LLC (Pittsburgh) announced at the MD&M East trade show in New York that it has expanded its Medical Coatings Development Centre in Sheffield, UK. Acquired earlier this year when Bayer purchased Polybiomed, the center offers expanded 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, remarks Paul Nowatzki, responsible for the company 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, the company can now apply its own capabilities and know-how to help customers take the first step toward evaluation, Nowatzki adds.

As part of a move to increase staffing at the facility, the company has added 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 has also made a capital investment, installing new dip-coating equipment that allows the processing of samples measuring up to 140 cm in length. This technology upgrade will enable the company to apply coatings to full-length cardiovascular catheters.

At MDM East, the supplier also announced that it has added a dry-out resistant lubricious coating to its Baymedix portfolio. Once wetted, Baymedix CL 300 can be exposed to air for as long as 10 minutes before it begins to lose lubricity. The new coating is an option for challenging acidic applications with a pH of less than 5 or for devices that are exposed to air for long periods of time, Nowatzki says.