EuroMed offers wound care dressings, ostomy skin barriers and skin fixation devices for the medical market.

Penetrating the U.S. medical device market might not be easy, but EuroMed President Jarl Jensen is up for the challenge. The company is backed by  expertise in skin-adhesive and wound-healing technology.   

The company focuses solely on hydrocolloid healthcare products, and manufactures wound care dressings, ostomy skin barriers and skin fixation devices for the professional medical market, as well as products for the consumer market for minor abrasions, blisters, burns and cuts.    

Hydrocolloids are naturally occurring, water-absorbing particles that can be made from natural substances such as cellulose, guar, pectin and gelatin.

Euromed’s products are sold to medical device marketers and distributors worldwide on a contract, private-label or co-marketing basis.

New Beginnings
Founded in Denmark in 1991 by Ole Jensen, Jarl’s father, EuroMed holds more than 50 product patents. In 1997, the company expanded into the United States. Jarl Jensen joined the business early on in his professional career and in 2004 was promoted to president.

Today, roughly 80 percent of the company’s business is generated in the European market, although Jensen is optimistic that U.S. market demand will grow.

In September 2007, the company opened a new manufacturing facility, moving its U.S. headquarters from Northvale, N.J., to Orangeburg, N.Y. The 38,000-square-foot facility will allow the company to expand production of its wound care, ostomy barrier and incontinence products. EuroMed is an ISO13485:2003,  9001:2000 and FDA registered facility.

The company is now a part of the Rockland Empire State Development Program, an investment area in the county that reimburses local tax jurisdictions for the taxes Euromed would normally pay if located outside of the county and state. Thanks to the program, EuroMed says it will save substantially on property taxes.

Jensen had been searching for property for the new plant and says he felt Rockland’s business-centric economy was the perfect fit. In addition to being able to operate almost tax free, the company was also granted other financial incentives by Rockland County Economic Development Agency for bringing new business and employment opportunities to the area. “We’re only operating out of one facility, and that is a huge advantage for us,” Jensen asserts.    

“Sales, marketing, research and manufacturing are all under one roof, so the people responsible for creativity, problem solving and understanding of what needs to be done are readily available to address the issues,” he continues.  

Truly Customized
EuroMed says it has unique patented processes, technology, machinery and equipment in place to ensure that its customers receive a high-quality product. Although it offers several standard hydrocolloid wound dressing shapes, styles and configurations, the company can also manufacture custom designed products.

“We are a business-to-business company,” Jensen explains. “The big OEMs are our customers and they demand perfection. Anyone who has done business with companies whose business is their brand, knows what they value. Our success comes from allowing customers to make good margins and by being a highly efficient manufacturer of a value-added product.”

A typical hydrocolloid product starts with a compound adhesive mixture made in batches of 500 kilograms. Those batches are transferred to the clean room where the adhesive is heated and shaped into the dressing and then laminated on a polyurethane film. From there, product is packaged and sterilized. The manufacturing process is highly automated, and the company invests heavily in equipment such as laminators, packers, extruders and mixers.

EuroMed works in conjunction with sister company Jentec Inc. USA, which designs and builds EuroMed’s production equipment. Ole Jensen developed Jentec in 1986 specifically to develop equipment and processes for the medical device industry.

Every two years, Jensen says it upgrades its production line with new machinery. Additionally, Jensen says, “Our customers are requesting faster lead times, so we are looking to address this challenge in a number of ways.

“We will start with a review of our process and our people. We will review each position from the line supervisors to the supply chain managers to identify areas in need of improvement and to determine how best to train and sharpen job skills to upgrade overall performance. We will critically assess our forecasting accuracy in order to fine tune our production scheduling and inventory management and we will strategically lengthen production runs on key products to enhance our overall efficiency, long term cash flow and profitability.”

Innovative Products
Product innovation plays a big role in EuroMed’s history and Jenson says the company will further emphasize research and development.

“We try to innovate in every area,” Jensen says. “We mix our own adhesives that are skin-friendly and stay on in tough conditions.” Jensen says the company is developing a line of adhesives with antimicrobial properties to meet the growing challenges of protecting against nosocomial infections prevalent in health care facilities and the presence of organisms such as Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) in the community.

In late 2007, EuroMed was recognized by Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry Magazine with a Medical Design Excellence Award in the general hospital devices and therapeutic products category for its new SureSkin I.V. hydrocolloid dressing. Designed to protect intravenous and central catheter insertion sites, the SureSkin I.V. dressing uses a thin, yet strong transparent adhesive, which allows the caregiver to see the insertion site without the need for removal.

EuroMed seeks feedback from end-users to determine how they can improve its products. “Our goal was to create a design that was not only highly-functional, but also easy to apply,” Jensen explains. “Innovation is critical and we are planning a continuous improvement and ongoing expansion into wound care. I think we can go a long way forward. We have the products and the technology to advance and grow in the future.”