The FDA issued guidance today recommending that healthcare personnel and facilities cease the reuse of disposable masks. According to the recommendations, healthcare personnel and facilities should transition away from crisis capacity strategies like decontaminating or bioburden reducing disposable respirators for reuse. The CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) approved an increased domestic […]
Sterilization / Calibration
BD plans $65M plant in Arizona
BD (NYSE:BDX) announced today that it will invest $65 million to build a state-of-the-art supply chain hub in Tucson, Ariz. Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based BD’s new 120,000 square-foot facility is slated to become a hub for the company’s supply chain by serving as a final-stage manufacturing and sterilization center, according to a news release. Get the full […]
BD expands recall of ChloraPrep 3 ml applicator
BD announced that it revised a previous press release from last week to expand a voluntary recall of its ChloraPrep 3 mL applicator. Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based BD initiated the recall for specified catalog numbers of the applicator device on June 23, 2020, due to possible fungal contamination under certain environmental conditions, according to a news […]
Calumeo launches dry-heat N95 reprocessor
Calumeo today announced the U.S. launch of a point-of-care N95 mask reprocessing device. The Morgan Hill-Calif.-based company said its Calumeo Clean countertop device uses dry heat to decontaminate N95 masks for reuse, without the use of toxic chemicals. The process takes just over an hour. The device can process six masks at a time and each […]
Sotera Health buys BioScience Laboratories to boost Nelson Labs business
Sotera Health (NASDAQ:SHC) recently announced that it has acquired Bozeman, Mont.–based BioScience Laboratories in a deal that will expand the U.S.-based antimicrobial and antiviral testing capabilities of Sotera Health’s Nelson Labs business. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in the March 10 announcement. BioScience Laboratories provides topical antimicrobial product testing in the […]
WellAir acquires UV Innovators, former TransEnterix CEO appointed to corner office
WellAir announced today that it has acquired UV Innovators in a deal that combines WellAir’s FDA-cleared portable air cleaning system with UV Innovators’ medical-grade handheld UVC disinfection technology. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Todd Pope, who has been executive chairman of Cary, N.C.–based UV Innovators since 2017, has been appointed CEO […]
Steris beats The Street, announces leadership change
Steris (NYSE:STE) beat The Street on both sales and profits in its fiscal third quarter and announced that CEO Walt Rosebrough will step down July 29, 2021. The Dublin, Ireland-based sterilization and surgical products company posted profits of $114.5 million or $1.33 per share, on sales of $808.9 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, […]
FDA says to limit mask decontamination to 4 cycles
Soon after healthcare workers began warning of personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, companies and other organizations started claiming their decontamination systems could reprocess used filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) such as N95s up to 20 times. The FDA began issuing emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for FFR decontamination systems with a range of allowable cycles and major media […]
BREAKING: Steris to acquire Cantel Medical in $4.6B deal
Steris (NYSE:STE) announced today that it will acquire Cantel Medical (NYSE:CMD) for $4.6 billion — a major merger in the infection prevention space. The deal is expected to close by June 30, pending customary closing conditions, regulatory approvals and an OK by Cantel shareholders. News of the merger comes a month and a half after Steris closed […]
New Mexico AG sues Sterigenics over ethylene oxide emissions
The attorney general of New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against Sterigenics and associated companies claiming a company medtech sterilization plant in Santa Teresa, N.M. has harmed air quality and “materially contributed” to nearby residents’ health risks. In the claim filed Dec. 22, 2020, attorney general Hector Balderas alleges that Sterigenics has caused “substantial unreported, uncontrolled releases” […]
FDA OKs Ecolab’s Bioquell technology system for N95 decontamination
Ecolab announced today that it received FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) for use of its Bioquell technology system on N95 masks. St. Paul, Minn.-based Ecolab’s Bioquell BQ-50 and Bioquell ProteQ decontamination systems received the EUA so healthcare facilities can decontaminate N95 respirator masks on-site to help address shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bioquell technology uses […]
