Pictured above: (l-r) Gary Brookes Production Director,
Geraldine Johnson Financial Director, Roderick Davidson MD (all of
Dyecor) and Graham Biggs, President of the Chamber of Commerce
Hereford and Worcester
Innovative packaging technology developed and manufactured by a
Hereford company, with help from MedilinkWM and the Advantage Proof
of Concept fund, could soon be helping to save lives.
A new product from Dyecor Limited, based at Whitestone Business
Park, will enable temperature-controlled drugs, stem cell materials
and even organs for transplant to be transported more efficiently
and cost-effectively than ever before.
The company specialises in absorbency, specialist paper
conversion and sachet manufacture. Its latest development is based
on an existing product, Thermacor - a patented, thermoformed
package suitable for transporting liquid specimens - which has
already proved highly successful for medical
applications.
Dyecor owner and managing director Rod Davidson explains: "We
started off with this idea of creating an absorbent moulding
process to carry diagnostic samples - urine, blood and so on. That
really took off, primarily because there was a huge public health
campaign for Chlamydia and we offered a very logical way of
transporting urine samples for Chlamydia testing.
"Almost every lab and customer we visited also had a requirement
for taking things in a chilled and temperature-controlled
condition, so it seemed a logical extension for our product - to
not only be able to package samples in this absorbent plastic, but
also to be able to transport them in a chilled condition."
Having identified the new product - called Thermacool - as
appropriate for transporting drugs, diagnostic samples and possibly
blood products, Dyecor applied to the Advantage Proof of Concept
fund in July 2009. MedilinkWM's Connectivity Director Chris Dyke
and its Connectivity Manager Chris Ramsden were both on the judging
panel and realised the exciting potential of the product for
transporting organs for transplant.
Chris Ramsden explored the idea with the company further and
helped the Dyecor team to establish links with Queen Elizabeth
Hospital, Birmingham - Europe's largest liver transplant centre -
and with its transplant surgeons and other NHS transplant
specialists.
Dyecor's thermoforming capability meant it was able to mould a
thermal reservoir - a close-fitting box around a sample - which was
able to contain a refrigerant. "What's typically used for
insulation is expanded polystyrene, but we have specialist
expertise relating to expanded polyurethane, which is ten times
more effective as an insulator and much more robust," said Rod.
"But the real Holy Grail is that conventionally, when you send
material in a chilled container, you use dry ice," he added.
"Nobody likes it because it is very environmentally unfriendly. You
have to vent it and it's explosive and very expensive - in fact,
because it's hazardous, airlines charge a premium for carrying
it.
"We thought if we could produce a container that was robust,
lower cost and also do away with the need for dry ice, but still
allowed the magical 72 hours of transport time, then we would have
an unanswerable argument for using Thermacool."
With funding agreed from Advantage West Midlands within days and
confirmed within just a few weeks, as well as "wonderful" support
from Chris Ramsden, Dyecor decided to concentrate development on
the three principal areas that provided substantial marketing
possibilities, including the transport of high value medicines, and
stem cell transportation.
Rod adds: "MWM has been fantastic and Chris I would single out -
he's been an incredible help. He made valuable introductions for us
and has been hugely enthusiastic. He has kept up a really good
ongoing mentoring role with the company while we have been working
on the product."
Dyecor has already been recognised for its work, winning the
Queen's Award for Innovation during the course of the Thermacool
development.
MedilinkWM influences and guides public sector initiatives at
regional and national level for the benefit of companies, and
drives research and development by identifying potential markets
for growth and new product commercialisation in the Life Science
market. Visit www.MedilinkWM.co.uk