In Brief 14331

In Brief

The United States Department of Commerce is sponsoring two medical device trade missions to Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. The trade missions are centered on a series of one-on-one business appointments with potential buyers, agents, and distributors....The Industrial Automation Control Products and Systems section of NEMA is sponsoring a one-year test to evaluate a program to provide free access to industry standards over the Internet. A brief description of each standard and a link to the document is provided on the Web page. The service will be available through 2000 at http://www.nema.org/engineering/icsstandards.html.... MedSource Technologies Inc. (Minneapolis) has acquired Tenax (Danbury, CT), the medical device division of Bespak plc (King's Lynn, Norfolk, UK). Tenax, an ISO 9001­ and EN 46001­certified company, provides high-volume production molding, assembly, and packaging services....Specialty chemicals maker Rhodia (Cranbury, NJ) has purchased a range of specialty silicones from Applied Silicone Corp. (Ventura, CA). The transaction excludes silicones dedicated to breast implant applications, which will remain with Applied Silicone Corp.... Haemotronic S.p.A. (Mirandola, MO, Italy) has announced that it is restructuring operations as concerns its production for the U.S. market. The company will now distribute products directly from its recently expanded 18,000-m² facilities in Mirandola and Carbonara. It produces PVC-free pouches, parenteral bags, and a range of IV components....Custom injection molder Alltrista Unimark Plastics Co. (Greer, SC) has received two customer honors for high standards in supplier performance. The awards are a Supplier Quality Systems rating from Ethicon (Somerville, NJ), a division of Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, NJ), and the Omnimark award from Gillette (Boston)....Construction of a manufacturing facility dedicated to a new jumbo polyester film extrusion line for Klöckner Pentaplast of America (Gordonsville, WV) has begun. The $6 million, 54,000-sq-ft facility will initially employ 25 people and will add 16 million lb of polyester to the company's annual output....Trace Laboratories-Central (Palatine, IL), a diversified testing laboratory, and TÜV Rheinland of North America Inc. (Newtown, CT), an international certification and compliance services provider, have formed a cooperative relationship to offer a range of testing and certification services to manufacturers....Paul Kiefel GmbH (Freilassing, Germany) was awarded the 1999 Baxter Supplier Award for its high-frequency and thermocontact welding machines. The company's machines are used to weld plastic films for a line of infusion, blood, and dialysis bags supplied by the Baxter Group (Deerfield, IL). The Baxter Group cited the reliability and efficiency of Kiefel's machines as key factors in its decision....The Vacuum Insulation Association (Arlington, VA) was recently formed to promote communication, research, and education regarding the commercial use of vacuum insulation technology. Members of the new international trade association include component material suppliers as well as fabricators and end-users of vacuum insulation products....PRA International Inc. (Vienna, VA) has acquired Arcam, a contract research organization based in Paris. Under the conditions of the agreement, Arcam will operate using the PRA name. PRA International Inc. provides a range of clinical trials management and product development planning services to medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies worldwide....FDA has amended labeling requirements for aluminum content in large-volume parenterals, small-volume parenterals, and pharmacy bulk packages used in total parenteral nutrition (TPN) therapy. The decision was prompted by new evidence linking the use of parenteral drug products containing aluminum to toxic accumulation of aluminum in the tissues of patients on TNP therapy.

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