Sterigenics increases gamma sterilisation capacity
The contract sterilisation services provider is building a new facility in the UK
Sterigenics, a contract sterilisation services company, is building a new facility in Markham Vale North in Chesterfield/Derbyshire, UK.
The new 60,000-square-foot site will add gamma sterilisation capabilities in the UK to complement Sterigenics’ existing ethylene oxide (EtO) facility based in Somercotes/Derbyshire.
The new space, the company said, will significantly expand its footprint in Europe to help meet the growing sterilisation needs of its customers and support the company’s mission of Safeguarding Global HealthTM.
Scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2018, the facility will include the installation of a state-of-the-art Nordion JS10000 gamma irradiator with a research loop.
“Sterigenics is committed to being the world’s leading provider of sterilisation services and partnering with our customers to eliminate threats to human health,” said Philip Macnabb, president of Sterigenics.
Macnabb said the company continues to invest in its global network to meet customers’ growing demand for gamma irradiation capacity as a critical step in their product development processes. He said: "Our new Markham Vale facility will strengthen our ability to serve our European customers, particularly in the MedTech and pharmaceutical fields, and help them innovate with success.”
Process validation
The new facility will provide routine gamma, GammaStat rapid processing and process validation, as well as laboratory testing services in nearby Somercotes through its Nelson Labs business.
Sterigenics’ gamma irradiation capacity in Europe includes existing facilities located in Belgium and Italy.
“Our Markham Vale North facility is strategically located to serve the needs of our European customers,” said Adrian Wye, director of UK operations. “Its prime location at the heart of the UK’s motorway network will provide an optimum location for their supply chain logistics. And our facility’s high-tech capabilities will deliver the turnaround times necessary to distribute their products to market quickly.”
To address the growing need for sterilisation in many parts of the world, Sterigenics is making significant investments in technology to expand both gamma and ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilisation capacity throughout its global network.
In August 2017, it completed a major expansion of its Forth Worth facility, adding gamma capacity and increasing total sterilisation throughput. In June 2017, it completed a project that significantly increased throughput at its operation in West Memphis, Arkansas, and in 2015, it opened a significant expansion in Gurnee, Illinois.
In addition, Sterigenics has recently expanded its EtO facilities in Ontario (Canada), California (US); Costa Rica and Wiesbaden in Germany. Further announcements are expected in the near future.
Sterigenics employes 1,600 engineers, scientists and safety specialists with deep expertise in gamma, EtO, Ebeam and X-ray sterilisation technologies for the medical device, pharmaceutical, food and commercial safety, and high-performance materials industries.
A Sotera Health company, Sterigenics operates a network of 46 facilities in 13 countries. Sotera Health, owned by private equity firms Warburg Pincus and GTCR, is also the parent company of Nelson Labs and Nordion.