WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Oct. 12, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Charter Medical, Ltd., a division of Lydall, Inc. (NYSE:LDL), announced the completion of their Biotech manufacturing expansion project in their Winston-Salem facility. The project increased Charter's ISO Class 7 clean room capacity and added new state-of-the-art automated bag manufacturing equipment. The new equipment will allow Charter to provide scalable single-use bags and assemblies, ranging in size from 50 mL to 5,000 L, to the biotech and medical device markets.
Peter Ferris, President of Charter Medical, remarked: "These markets for single-use solutions continue to grow at double digit rates. Our new capabilities, combined with our continued emphasis on Lean and Six Sigma, position us to become a leading supplier of choice for global biotech and medical device customers."
Dale Barnhart, CEO of Lydall, Inc., stated: "Charter was selected as one of Lydall's growth platforms because it serves high growth markets that reward innovation and quality. Our recent acquisition of Solutech in The Netherlands for membrane technology that serves the filtration and trans-dermal drug delivery markets and our significant investment in Charter Medical reflects our commitment to grow Lydall's life science business."
Charter Medical plans to launch several innovative single-use products into the biotech market in the upcoming months. For example, Freeze-Pak(TM), a single-use container that maintains product integrity at temperatures as low as -196 degrees C, is slated for launch in the first quarter of 2010 and expands upon the freezing technology utilized in Charter's Cell-Freeze(R) product line. Cell Freeze is Charter's 510(k) cleared medical device line for cryogenic storage of peripherally derived stem cells.
Lydall, Inc. is a New York Stock Exchange listed company headquartered in Manchester, Connecticut. The Company, with operations in the U.S., France, Germany, and The Netherlands and sales offices in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, focuses on specialty engineered products for the thermal/acoustical and filtration/separation markets. Lydall(R) is a registered trademark of Lydall, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All product names are trademarks of Lydall, Inc. or Charter Medical, Ltd.
Charter Medical, Ltd. headquarters and ISO 13485 registered manufacturing facility are located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Learn more about Charter Medical at www.chartermedical.com.
Any information discussed in this announcement that may be forward looking in nature is made available pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provision for forward-looking statements as defined in the securities laws. Lydall's businesses are subject to a number of risk factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. For information identifying some of these important risk factors, refer to Lydall's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Forms 10-Q in the MD & A section under the Cautionary Note concerning Factors That May Affect Future Results and also Risk Factors.