Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

£200,000 investment in contract medical manufacturing by Arrow Medical

Press contact:

Ewart Woolley
Tel: +44 (0)1594 516079

CM/5162
April 2007
Length of text: 355 words
Silicone moulding facility underpins Arrow Medical’s investment in contract medical manufacturing

The recent investment of more than £200,000, including silicone moulding facilities, at Arrow Medical’s Kington, Herefordshire site has enabled a substantial growth in capacity for production of moulded components for sterile medical devices and patients kits.

New capacity at Arrow includes an Arburg 35-tonne clamp force press, which will be used to mould a variety of silicone components for use in sterile patient sets, laparoscopy packs, and many other delicate and intricate precision components destined for breathing equipment, medical sealing applications and products, such as complex masks, designed to interface with areas of critical soft tissue, such as lips, eyes and other highly sensitive areas, especially in ENT surgical applications.

Arrow Medical uses a liquid silicone resin (LSR) system with the Arburg equipment, and a number of options that allows both microparts and components to be produced with hard/soft combinations of materials. The Arburg unit and LSR processing will also allow Arrow to provide complete biocompatible encapsulation of medical devices to the very high standard of performance required for implants, and other devices in long term contact with the body.

“We plan to introduce complete clean room polymer parts processing in the near future,” said Arrow Medical MD John Johnson. “We already have Class 10,000 clean room facilities for our medical assembly contracts. The Arburg has been purchased as part of our project to integrate silicone moulding production with assembly facilities and other clean room contract medical facilities at Kington. Our silicone moulding operation now includes substantial capacity, with seven moulding presses devoted to precision moulded products”

Arrow Medical Ltd now offers a complete contract medical manufacturing process at Kington. This extends from prototype design and build, through production engineering, up to volume production at rates between 10,000 and 100,000 a month. This includes combinations of electronics with polymer moulding, radio frequency (RF) welding, textile, film and fabric assembly, clean room assembly and sterile packaging, supported by secure sterile logistics systems worldwide and quality approvals, including FM 26337, BSEN 180 9001:2000, MD 78012 and BS EN ISO 13485:2003. Arrow Medical also meets FDA GMP standards.

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Note: Images and text available by e-mail from ewart@cmpr.co.uk.

More information about Arrow Medical services from:

John Johnson
Arrow Medical Limited
Hatton Gardens Industrial Estate
Kington
Herefordshire HR5 3RB
Tel: +44 (0)1544 231760
Fax: +44 (0)1544 231640
Website: www.arrowmedical.co.uk

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