With the start-up of its new clean room facility, Balda AG (D-32541 Bad Oeynhausen; www.balda.de) has inaugurated its latest addition to the company, the new medical technology segment. Based on a “room-in-room” system, the facility will be suitable for class 100,000 clean room conditions. It will be integrated into the company´s existing production line after its completion in two months time. With an investment of EUR 1m into the new facility, the company has created 30 new jobs. Balda is expecting orders in the area of medical technology to contribute between 10% and 15% to the company´s overall sales. Mobile telephony with a 70% to 80% share in overall sales, will remain the core business. As part of this development, the company has confirmed its latest sales forecasts for 2002: Sales are predicted to rise by 16% to EUR 184m. For 2003, the board expects sales to increase by another 25%.

The clean-room line is used for the production of medical components such as the so-called “Accu-Chek Softclix” for Roche Diagnostics GmbH & Co KG (D-68305 Mannheim; www.roche-diagnostics.com). These ball pen-shaped implements are used by diabetics to monitor their blood sugar levels without painful side-effects. Balda produces all components for this device.

Moreover, Balda has the exclusive rights for the production of powder inhaler systems for the EU market for the next ten years. Patents for this product are held by companies such as ac-pharma and Hagepharm. The two companies have formed IG Sprühtechnik (IGS, D-79664 Wehr; www.ig-spruehtechnik.de), a cooperation specialising in filling pharmaceutical aerosols and powder inhaler systems.