MedPlast Acquires Orthoplastics Polyethylene Manufacturer

MedPlast (Tempe, AZ, USA) has announced the purchase of Orthoplastics (Bacup; United Kingdom), a leading custom manufacturer of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) products and components for the global OEM orthopedic device implant market.

MedPlast, a technology and innovative process leader in manufacturing support for Healthcare markets, intends to lever the purchase to create an expanded global footprint with orthopedic device OEMs, further enhancing its medical business segment. The company already has expertise in injection molding, medical blow molding, silicone extrusion, compression and transfer molding, liquid injection molding (LIM), two-shot molding, over molding, insert molding, multicomponent molding, and precision mold making procedures.

Orthoplastics, besides being one of the major UHMWPE suppliers to the strictly regulated orthopedic implant market, has developed technology to produce premium grade UHMWPE implantable orthopedic components to customer specifications. A key feature offered is a patented method of gamma cross-linking in bulk with close dosage control. Other capabilities include direct compression molding (DCM), ram extrusion, annealing, machining and finishing, inspection, and laboratory testing.

“Orthoplastics becomes a key part of our strategy to deliver comprehensive processing technologies to the global medical device market,” said Matt Langton, executive vice president of sales and marketing for MedPlast. “This will provide our current and future customers with a wider range of capabilities that become even more valuable as the design of medical products grows increasingly sophisticated and regulated.”

“This acquisition allows MedPlast to combine its technical capabilities with Orthoplastics' implantable technologies to become a significant player in the implantable market,” said David Brooks, managing director of Orthoplastics.

UHMWPE is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene with extremely long chains that serve to transfer load more effectively to the polymer backbone by strengthening intermolecular interactions. The result is the highest impact strength thermoplastic presently made, highly resistant to corrosive chemicals except oxidizing acids, and with an extremely low moisture absorption and a very low coefficient of friction. Other benefits are that the material is self-lubricating and highly resistant to abrasion, in some forms being 15 times more resistant than carbon steel. Its coefficient of friction is significantly lower than that of nylon and is comparable to that of Teflon, but UHMWPE has better abrasion resistance.

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