Company insight
Expertise and excellence in coating services
Medical Device Developments speaks to Todd Paulsen, vice-president of Formacoat, as he outlines how his company is the best choice for cost-effective and time saving coating solutions.
As experts in medical device coatings, what solutions, device types and coatings does Formacoat offer? Todd Paulsen: We offer coating services using hydrophilic, hydrophobic, drug- eluting, anti-microbial, anti-fouling, anti- thrombogenic, thrombus-inducing and silicone coatings. Formacoat has the ability and know-how to modify our coatings to fit the needs of the device depending on the target use. Many of these coatings are multi-layer coatings. Using different coating combinations is beneficial towards increasing binding efficiency and performance. Different methods of surface pre-treatment is also common depending on the material of the device.
of a customer’s time due to our ‘one stop shop’ design. We take in many early-stage projects and help customers find the best coating for their device and its intended purpose by performing a coating survey. These surveys are beneficial because we are able to test multiple different coating candidates under one order and report results comparing performance and cost. This saves time by eliminating the need to research services and costs from several different companies. Having so many conversations and legalities between handfuls of different design houses or coating vendors takes weeks and months to even get the ball rolling. Why not consider someone who has all the coatings in-hand and the ability to coat in-house?
“We communicate closely with our customers and update them on their projects’ progress, keeping them in the loop should any details change along the way.”
The most common devices that we coat are films, stents, shafts and catheters/ guidewires. These devices most commonly request hydrophilic coatings as they are used for surgeries and insertion applications. Formacoat accepts challenging and odd shapes such as mushrooms, funnels, screws and so on, as we develop special technologies to adapt to a customer’s needs. We also have customers that may come to us with a coating already chosen and just need a contract manufacturer to take the next step towards large scale production. In order to better help these customers, Formacoat may optimise the coating method with intentions of reducing coating usage, which in turn reduces cost and increases manufacturability.
How does Formacoat’s coatings offer a cost-effective and time- saving option for its clients? Formacoat services saves a hefty amount
Our services are cost-effective due to our quoting model. One order requires a single set-up fee so, depending on a customer’s situation, we may coat as many or as little devices as they request. This ties back to the ‘one stop shop’ design mentioned before where it is more convenient and cost-effective compared to multiple quotes and multiple open projects from varying companies.
Why should clients choose you over an individual supplier? Most coating suppliers don’t do large scale production. Since we work with 45 different coating vendors, we have the option to select from over 90 different coatings. If someone were to choose a single supplier, they are limited to those coatings and their manufacturing abilities, whether or not they have the capability to do so. Half the time we meet
Medical Device Developments /
www.nsmedicaldevices.com
with a new customer, they say they have worked with a supplier or two for small- scale research work but eventually came to the roadblock that they are unable to coat at large scale. Going through the development steps with suppliers that only do the early-stage research cuts a lot into a projects timeline due to “restarting” paperwork and development might they decide to transfer the project to another company. Even though we use the coating that a customer initially chose, we still have the ability to try out other options per their request. Formacoat helps projects all the way from paper to production.
What are Formacoat’s goals for its clients?
Our goal is to help our customers find the best coating solution for their device and help them to full production. It doesn’t matter to us if it’s one of our coating solutions or one that the customer brings to us. Formacoat has over 23 years of experience coating medical devices and we have developed equipment and techniques that allow us to work with just about anything. Our team of chemists and engineers have a diverse background of knowledge and experience where we can find what works best for them at any stage of a project. We communicate closely with our customers and update them on their projects’ progress, keeping them in the loop should any details change along the way. Using equipment, we have in-house along with our outside relationships, we are able to provide our customers with out- of-the-box solutions and direct connections to anything they need. We are here every step of the way to support customers get their ideas to the market. ●
www.formacoat.com 113
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