A Medical Device Daily

Specialty coatings company AeonClad Coatings (Austin, Texas) has reported the launch of a newly formed subsidiary, AeonClad Biomedical. The new company will focus on biomedical applications using the AeonCoat Technology.

AeonCoat is a dry coating technology that offers a single-step, solvent-free process producing conformal films. The technology enables custom-tailored coatings allowing for improved dissolution of poorly water-soluble drugs, as well as modified or sustained release. Coatings also can display functional groups used for secondary covalent coupling of biological materials or for targeted drug delivery.

By concentrating on drug delivery and medical devices, the company said AeonClad Biomedical is positioned to meet key market needs.

AeonClad said venture capital investments in nanotechnology drug delivery companies have been increasing and have provided further positive spin to the market growth.

Medical device coatings are the most rapidly expanding sector of the global medical device market, AeonClad said. These coatings increase the functionality, longevity and cost-effectiveness of medical devices. Global sales generated by coatings and surface-treatment processes used on medical devices is expected to grow significantly. Predictions are that the market will reach more than $5.31 billion by 2010, an average annual growth rate of 12.4% and that the medical device coatings sector will grow to $7.5 billion by 2014.

AeonCoat Technology will be used to coat and encapsulate drugs or active pharmaceutical ingredients. The AeonCoat process yields many advantages in drug delivery due to its ability to individually coat particles on both the micro and nano scales.

AeonClad Biomedical also will specialize in customizing drug release profiles by uniquely tailoring coatings to allow for modified or sustained release at the micro or nanoparticle level. In addition, the technology can also be used to functionalize particles for targeted delivery.

AeonClad Biomedical will customize medical device coatings to fit customer specifications.