Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE/PCX:AVY) announced that it has established Avery Dennison Medical, a new business unit in the Company’s Worldwide Specialty Tape Division. The new global operation is headquartered in Mentor, Ohio, with operations in both Mentor and Turnhout, Belgium.
The announcement was made at the Medical Design and Manufacturing tradeshow, one of the industry’s premier events, which is being held this week at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim, California.
Avery Dennison Medical will be dedicated to applying the Company’s expertise in self-adhesive materials and adhesives, along with its extensive converting capabilities, to develop advanced technologies and products for the rapidly growing medical marketplace.
“Our specialty tapes are already used by some of the largest medical product innovators in the industry,” said Philip M. Neal, chairman and chief executive officer of Avery Dennison. “The healthcare industry is constantly looking for new products that will reduce costs and improve patient outcomes. We see an opportunity to leverage our technology base and medical industry partnerships in this growing market.”
The demand for advanced healthcare management products is projected to expand at double-digit rates each year. Key factors driving growth include longer life spans and new medical technologies that reduce mortality and morbidity as well as enhance quality of life.
“Highly specialized woundcare products that reduce the time required for care or improve the quality of patient comfort will win,” added Neal. “Advances in medical technology have resulted in new, minimally invasive surgical procedures that have created increased demand for advanced, over-the-counter healthcare products as patient care shifts from the hospital to the home environment.”
Avery Dennison Medical will operate as a full-line supplier, building on its core competencies in manufacturing, converting and research and development to create specialized adhesives and proprietary technologies for the woundcare, surgical, ostomy, electromedical and diagnostic markets, including:
- hydrocolloids, which are special adhesives with unique absorbency and barrier properties that are used to attach medical devices on skin;
- hydrogels, which are advanced dressings that absorb fluids or act as delivery systems for cosmetic or pharmaceutical ingredients;
- high moisture vapor transmission tapes that enhance patient comfort;
- proprietary adhesive pattern coating and microreplication technologies;
- films and foams that offer a range of performance capabilities, such as breathability, flexibility and conformability; and,
- laminates that combine unique layers of materials into a single application.
Avery Dennison is a global leader in pressure-sensitive technology and innovative self-adhesive solutions for consumer products and label materials. Based in Pasadena, California, the Company had 1999 sales of $3.8 billion. Avery Dennison develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of products for consumer and industrial markets, including Avery-brand office products, Fasson-brand self-adhesive materials, peel-and-stick postage stamps, battery labels, reflective highway safety products, automated retail tag and labeling systems, and specialty tapes and chemicals.
