Americhem creates dedicated health care business division

ANAHEIM, Calif.—Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio-based Americhem Inc. has launched Americhem Healthcare, a new business division, after seeing "tremendous" growth in the health care market in the last few years.

The company hopes the new segment solidifies its place as a "trusted advisor" in the health care market, Bill Feldman, global commercial director at Americhem's engineered compounds, said in an interview with Plastics News at MD&M West 2022 in Anaheim.

"It's one thing to be a supplier to the health care industry … but when you're a health care company by entity, it embeds you in the industry," Feldman said.

Americhem Healthcare forms a new team of workers, including some of the company's existing medical regulatory staff, he said. The new business segment will have added about 10 positions by the end of 2022, he added, including more regulatory staff who can "speak the language" of the health care industry.

"If you're going to be so bold to put health care in your name, you have to know what you're talking about,' Feldman said.

The division is currently weighing whether it will build a new plant or expand its existing plant in Suzhou, China, he said.

"We're creating more capacity with a clean compounding facility like we have in the U.S. ," Feldman said. "We're looking to expand globally as well … we've got more coming."

"Our medical-focused application developers and sales teams across NAFTA, Europe and Asia are able to do rapid development projects and small lot capacities as well as support our customers' global regulatory demands and provide niche health care expertise," Feldman said in an April 12 news release.

Americhem Healthcare will work with its medical OEM customers "on everything from biocompatibility testing and formulations to DMF and regulatory support to medical certification compliancy and locked formulations," the release said. It will also provide assistance with material selection and medical device product development support, it said.

Americhem cited its 30 years of experience in the health care sector, and its dedicating a clean compounding facility and a plant expansion in Morrisville, Pa.

"We also have plants that are ISO 13485 certified," Feldman said.