Cover story

IAN BOLLAND OFFERS SOME INSIGHT AS TO WHAT MEDICAL PLASTICS NEWS READERS CAN LOOK FORWARD TO AT THE MED-TECH INNOVATION EXPO IN JUNE.

Putting on a show

A tour through a medical plastics eye

After a successful return following a Covid-19 enforced hiatus in September 2021, Med-Tech Innovation Expo will be returning on 8-9 June at the NEC, Birmingham, UK as part of Manufacturing Week – and there will be plenty on offer for those in the medical plastics industry.

Whether that’s specialist medical plastics companies, those who can help you connect with other markets, cleanrooms, injection moulding specialists, distributors, or more; here we throw the spotlight on one or two aspects that readers of Medical Plastics News might be interested in.

INFECTION CONTROL Readers of the previous iteration of Medical Plastics News, and listeners to the MedTalk Podcast, will be familiar with Biointeractions. Its commercial director Arjun Luthra has explained that it is trying to get a multi-action biocompatible coating adopted by the UK government, saying it can consistently protect medical devices for 100 days. He will also be delivering a seminar on infection prevention measures on Day 2 of the Expo. Given the events of the last two-and-a-half years, this is a pretty timely topic that is sure to generate a lot of interest.

AN INTERNATIONAL FLAVOUR It’s Med-Tech Innovation Expo’s third visit to the NEC which, given its location next to an international airport, makes the show that bit more connected to the wider world.

Bringing that international flavour to the trade show floor are the likes of Hessen Trade & Investment, an international hub for innovative businesses. On Day 2 you can find out more about the opportunities offered in Hessen when Dr. Hendrik Pollmann, project manager, life sciences & biobased economy, delivers his seminar on the HealthTech/Introducing Stage.

There is also the opportunity to connect with the Economic Development Board of Mauritius, while companies from Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong are just a flavour of the worldwide appeal of Med-Tech Innovation Expo.

CLEANROOMS, INJECTION MOULDERS, DISTRIBUTORS Guardtech Group is one of the cleanroom specialists on show and is returning this year with a new look having restructured its group following its expansion to five divisions, and marketing manager Joe Shackley told us that we can expect a new look from the firm from its appearance in 2021.

“It will be much easier for potential clients to visualise how our products and services relate to their needs going forward – whether it’s a comprehensive cleanroom build, modular cleanroom, controlled environment pre-fab pod, rapid cleanroom or portable cleanroom that they require, the Guardtech Group divisions make it super simple for customers to get what they need without any confusion.”

PACKAGING An important, albeit final part of the process, is the packaging part and there is no shortage of those specialising in this area this year’s show.

One such company is Shawpak, a company that is increasing its presence at this year’s event after a successful visit in 2021.

Lucie Markgraf, sales administrator at Shawpak, said: “Visitors can expect to see some of our range of thermoforming packaging machinery, we have three different size machines and a brand new four Side Seal Pouch machine. Our machinery is compact and flexible, and this is so important to medical device manufacturers when cleanroom space is so expensive.”

TAKE TO THE STAGE

Across two conference stages, Med-Tech Innovation Expo will be covering several topics and issues that are pertinent to the life sciences sector, including medical plastics.

Companies from Mauritius, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Hong Kong are just a flavour of the worldwide appeal of Med-Tech Innovation Expo

The Med-Tech Innovation Conference will cover important issues relating to the sector, including new developments in manufacturing, health inequalities, sustainability, and the effects of medtech on the NHS in the UK.

The HealthTech/Introducing stage will involve an array of new technologies, speakers from the show floor and a session dedicated to start-ups showing off their new innovations and developments.

Two panel sessions to look out for on this stage of particular relevance across the medical device and medical plastics sector include a live MedTalk Podcast episode on the challenges of regulation in the medical device sector, and how to avoid recalls relating to software, materials, and devices.

COMPLIANCE As the medical device sector has seen a lot of regulatory development, particularly with changes to European legislation and the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, a panel of regulatory specialists on the HealthTech/ Introducing Stage will take you through some of the current key challenges likely to face companies, and how you can go about addressing them. In a similar vein, the aforementioned panel session on Day One will analyse the common pitfalls that have led to recalls of medical devices relating to design, software, and materials. The panel will feature experts who specialise in quality management and quality control checks with medical devices, and how to recall devices quickly – with the help of technology – should one slip through the net.

One exhibitor returning to Med-Tech Innovation is Zener Engineering Services (ZES), which specialises in engineering validation services.

Its director, Dave Easton, explains more and why the company is returning to the show.

“Medical Device Software Validation is a regulatory requirement, which is a specialist area of concern, in which ZES is very experienced. ZES can also manage large projects and provide leading experts in the field to ensure that medical devices and their manufacturing processes comply with regulatory requirements and are safe for patients.

“Visitors can expect to meet our experts and chat about medical device compliance and any concerns and issues they may have.

“The 2021 show was organised to an extremely high standard during the Covid pandemic, with our particular needs being taken into account every step of the way. ZES didn’t feel like just another exhibitor!”

For more information about exhibiting or visiting Med-Tech Innovation Expo, visit www.med-techexpo.com.

AFTER RESTRUCTURING ITS BUSINESS GUARDTECH CLEANROOMS EXPLAINS HOW IT IS SET UP SO ALL OF ITS CLIENTS’ CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT NEEDS ARE CATERED FOR.

5IVE WAYS

to meet the needs of a diverse medtech market

It’s about growth, it’s about opportunity and it’s about delivering the best possible service to all our different types of clients in the diverse range of industries we cover. Five distinct divisions all delivering a five-star service.”

Commercial director Mark Wheeler has seen a lot of change over the past few years in the cleanroom design & build sector.

Even during a devastating pandemic, his team and the business have found a way to grow and develop, and the industry has found a way to continue to thrive.

With that, Mr Wheeler and his firm, Guardtech Cleanrooms, have launched the Guardtech Group, which will now act as the umbrella company for five businesses, each contributing to an extensive portfolio of cleanroom-related products and services.

Guardtech Cleanrooms will now cater specifically for the modular cleanroom market, while CleanCube Mobile Cleanrooms will continue to provide portable solutions for businesses all over the world.

Isopod Rapid Cleanrooms will offer a quicker, more flexible and costeffective alternative – including the option for ‘flat-pack’ delivery and selfassembly installation.

There will be a new addition at some point in 2022, with Isoblok Pre-Fab Cleanrooms focusing on pre-configured ‘plug and play’ cleanroom units and pods constructed off-site. The company has acquired controlled environment design & build firm Cleanroom Solutions, which will continue to specialise in larger turnkey construction projects under the new Guardtech Group banner.

Wheeler said: “They’d been a ‘friendly competitor’ of ours for many years and we always respected their core values – culturally the two businesses really fit. The relationship started out as us working together, but the idea of an acquisition seemed to make sense as we’re so closely aligned – it strengthens both brands.”

Mr Wheeler explains how Guardtech has grown “organically” over the past 20 years – and in that time product development and innovation had become core tenets of the firm’s philosophy. “Those innovations have taken on a life of their own,” he adds, “developing in a way that they’ve become big enough to support their own divisions. We felt that this restructure was the clearest route to show our customers that there is a distinct outline in the way each element of the Group is run, yet with some central themes. These derive from our ‘GUARD Charter’ – the overall ethos of the Group – which focus our minds to Guide, Adapt, Understand, Respond and Deliver the best possible service for our clients.”

What does this mean for medtech? These developments are set to have a huge impact in how the Guardtech Group, and its subsidiary companies, will serve the medtech market over the coming years.

Guardtech Cleanrooms has served clients in the sector over the past 20 years, including the likes of Zimmer Biomet, SFM and Contamac.

them the best opportunity to serve their diverse client base more effectively than ever before.

“In terms of the medtech market specifically, this move gives us the platform to cater for any size client with any type of application,” he continues. “With CleanCube, our mobile cleanroom solution, units are being used by medical device manufacturers all over the world who didn’t have the space in their existing site to continue their operation – some are literally in car parks, offering users a cleanroom or laboratory on a site where they simply weren’t able to build something more substantial.

“Our Isopod Rapid Cleanrooms are being deployed by a number of R&D applications and companies looking for proof of concept, as well as smallscale manufacturing, testing and niche product batches.”

The acquisition of Cleanroom Solutions allows the Guardtech Group to expand its more complex turnkey construction projects for medtech companies, with the company’s previous clients including the likes of ApaTech, ClearLab, Leica, Lombard Medical, Oclaro Technology, Stanmore Implants and Sterimedix.

But the Group’s biggest and most fruitful area of business, in regard to medtech specifically, has been modular cleanroom construction, with a list of clients including UltraVision, NCC, NES, Wesley Coe and, recently, the likes of BioPharma Dynamics and GA Health in Ireland, where they worked with NSP Expert Lab Solutions.

Building for the future Despite the restructure, the key elements of a Guardtech project will always remain the same.

The medical device industry is growing at a rapid pace domestically and abroad, and we’re keen to apply our design philosophies to deliver a product that can be built by our own teams in the UK

“Across all the divisions, our approach is consistent,” says Mr Wheeler. “Client-focused problem-solving. With any of the business, we’re always looking to deliver all of the values that the GUARD charter embodies. This is the same for medtech as it is for any industry we might serve.

“We’re tackling different types of construction using the same quality standpoint and intellectual property. We wanted to compete with what was out there in the market without giving up the quality mark that’s a key component of our heritage modular builds.

“It was vital to us that Isopod and CleanCube enhanced the brand and did nothing to compromise it. The focus is on quality – we simply aren’t prepared to risk what we’ve established over 20 years of building quality cleanrooms.”

In the near future, Guardtech will turn some of its focus to developing its latest product group – Isoblok PreFab Cleanrooms.

Mr Wheeler says the guiding principle of this move is to provide a quality product for use in territories outside the UK which bear the same hallmarks of quality for those being used for applications in the British Isles.

“The medical device industry is growing at a rapid pace domestically and abroad, and we’re keen to apply our design philosophies to deliver a product that can be built by our own teams in the UK and shipped worldwide,” he adds. “The idea is to offer a high-quality product in territories where suppliers and providers are sparse – we can help improve the quality of applications in other territories, benefiting them and us. As part of this exercise, we recently donated a CleanCube mobile laboratory to the Ugandan Army (the Uganda People’s Defence Force) to help with the vaccine rollout there.”

With a pandemic that continues to cause chaos and many other tests and difficulties on the horizon, it won’t be plain sailing for the cleanroom industry and beyond, but the Guardtech Group feels it can deliver a five-star service, whatever new challenges come its way.