Clariant showcases trusted color and performance materials at MD&M West 2010

Muttenz, February 9, 2010 - Clariant Masterbatches presents the latest in its color and performance-enhancing materials designed to bring cutting-edge functionality and aesthetics to medical devices and pharmaceutical packaging at MD&M West 2010.

The materials form part of its ‘Trusted Color and Performance’ package of dedicated service and expertise, product reliability and innovative material performance unveiled for the first time to MD&M West visitors. The package aims to give manufacturers in these highly-demanding sectors the confidence they need to achieve product design and performance flexibility while taking into account safety and regulatory compliance.

Clariant’s new elastomer derivative Polyether Block Amide (PEBA) and Polyamide 11 and 12 tailored products for catheter tubing are among the innovations in focus at MD&M West. To support manufacturers’ desired combination of functionality for each extruded layer of catheter tubing, the tailored materials offer:

o Radiopaque enabling visualization even in thin wall sections by tailoring the density of the materials

o Alloys / blends for intermediate stiffness, modified performance;

o PEBA; PA11 and 12-based concentrates in a standard or custom colors based on ingredients that are biologically evaluated against USP-VI part 87 & 88 and / or ISO10993;

o Functional surface engineering such as friction reduction, laser-marking activation etc.

As one of the leading producers of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPUs) color concentrates for the medical and healthcare industry, Clariant Masterbatches now offers a range of RENOL® TPU color concentrates either in standard colors or tailored to the customers’ requirements. TPUs have been a popular material class in medical devices owing to biocompatibility, plasticizer-free elasticity, and excellent abrasion resistance. They are widely used in diverse applications from injection molded soft-touch grips and connectors, to films, and thin-wall extrusions for flexible tubes and catheters.

Using ingredients that have been biologically evaluated against USP VI (parts 87 and 88) customers can now benefit from vibrant colors and Clariant’s experience to help meet regulatory requirements. In addition to color, Clariant is able to offer functionality such as radiopacity used for the manufacture of components that can be visualized using X-ray or fluoroscopic evaluation.

In future, Clariant’s TPU concentrates will be among its products evaluated against the new international standard ISO10993. In response to increasing medical sector demands for ISO10993 compatibility, Clariant now offers a range of color and performance compounds and masterbatches whose ingredients have been evaluated against this standard. Over the last 2 to 3 years, ISO10993 has become more widely requested by the sector.

For many years US Pharmacopoeia parts 87 and 88 have been used as the standard to biologically evaluate medical devices and pharmaceutical packaging. Leading material suppliers in this sector, such as Clariant Masterbatches widely used the tests typically used for Class VI devices for evaluating their raw materials. Clariant has been offering a range of products where ingredients used have been evaluated against USP 87 and 88 Class VI for several years.

A key part of Clariant’s ISO10993 qualified product range is the consistency offered from a globally harmonized palette of raw materials, and global quality management system. Factors such as global availability and compliance to local regulations such as REACH have been taken into account. This means that designers and manufacturers who utilize this product range can help to minimize the risk of global consistency and change.