BGS US launches state-of-the-art E-Beam sterilization facility

 BGS US, a specialized provider of radiation sterilization for medical devices, pharmaceutical packaging, and biotechnology products, has opened its 100,000ft² Electron Beam (E-Beam) sterilization facility in Imperial, PA, near the Pittsburgh International Airport. This location, easily accessible to customers across the Northeast, Midwest, and South, allows the company to offer a full range of E-Beam sterilization services to a large customer base. The state-of-the-art facility was built in just over 12 months, with a total of 19 months from permitting to start of production.

“There is a clear and growing demand across the U.S. for cutting-edge E-Beam technology solutions, and the market response confirms this,” says Leonard Zuba, General Manager of BGS US. “We are pleased to bring this new facility online, on time, to meet that need.”

“The rapid, on-schedule completion of our U.S. site is a significant milestone for BGS,” adds Dr. Andreas Ostrowicki, CEO of BGS Beta-Gamma-Service. “The northeastern United States is one of the most important regions worldwide for the medical device industry, and we look forward to contributing to the industry’s dynamic growth. Pittsburgh’s location as a transportation hub and strong tradition as an industrial center make it an ideal site for our first U.S. facility.”

BGS US is one of more than 80 German companies operating in the Pittsburgh region.

According to Michael Henderson, Senior Director of Business Investment at the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, which assisted BGS US with the market entry project, “The Pittsburgh region is attractive to German companies because of its advanced manufacturing infrastructure, academic excellence in biomedical engineering, and strategic location for serving the U.S. healthcare sector.”

Why use E-Beam sterilization?

For decades, ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization and gamma irradiation have been the dominant sterilization methods of medical device manufacturers. In recent years, growing awareness of the environmental hazards associated with the EtO technology, along with an increasingly difficult to-obtain supply of Cobalt-60 for gamma sterilization, have threatened domestic sterilization capacity. Technologies such as E-Beam sterilization that use high-powered beams of electrons to sterilize products are excellent alternatives that can alleviate supply chain bottlenecks.

The technology BGS US is using in its new U.S. facility is increasingly being used as an alternative to gamma irradiation and has proven to be highly efficient at the company’s three sites in Germany for many years. BGS is considered to be a pioneer in the use of E-Beam technology, applying this technology for sterilization and polymer crosslinking for more than 40 years.