TekniPlex has announced the winners of its FY2026 TeknoVation Awards, recognizing innovations in materials science and manufacturing for healthcare. Over 30 projects were nominated across the company’s two divisions, from multiple regions and functions. Projects were evaluated based on innovation, problem-solving, business impact, measurable results, and scalability.
The TeknoVation Awards are a key part of TekniPlex’s global innovation system, encouraging teams to combine materials science and manufacturing technologies with market needs to accelerate innovation from technical development to real-world applications.
Three Winning Projects from Healthcare Division
This year’s three winning projects all come from the Healthcare Division. They include a multi-process universal PVC compound, recyclable barrier blister packaging, and weldable tubing for biopharmaceutical applications. Together, these projects demonstrate TekniPlex Healthcare’s capabilities in materials, manufacturing processes, sustainability, and high-performance healthcare applications.
First Place: Universal PVC Compound for Multi-Process Manufacturing
The first-place project developed a proprietary PVC compounding process that enables one universal PVC compound to perform reliably across multiple processing platforms, including sheet and film extrusion, tube extrusion, and injection molding. This breakthrough was achieved through a fully integrated development approach encompassing blending, compounding, and pelletization technology to optimize material rheology rather than changing formulation chemistry for a specific process. The result is “One Compound, Multiple Processing Capabilities.”
This innovation can reduce repeated qualification work associated with different material formulations, lower qualification costs, and shorten time to market. It can also improve process consistency across manufacturing locations and processing platforms while increasing the utilization of existing equipment and production resources. The project has entered the commercialization stage and is beginning to support customer manufacturing applications, demonstrating TekniPlex Healthcare’s ability to closely connect materials development and manufacturing innovation with practical customer needs.
Second Place: Recyclable Mid-Barrier Peelable PP Lidding
The second-place project is a patented solution developed for pharmaceutical blister packaging applications requiring moisture and/or oxygen barrier. It combines a peelable polypropylene (PP) lidding with a coextruded PP and cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) structure for thermoforming into blisters, allowing the entire blister package to be recycled where recycling infrastructure exists. All while maintaining the barrier, sealing, opening, and product-protection performance required for pharmaceutical applications.
Third Place: Weldable Tubing for Biopharmaceutical Applications
The third-place project involves weldable tubing designed for biopharmaceutical applications, enabling secure connections in fluid transfer systems. This innovation supports single-use technologies in bioprocessing, improving efficiency and sterility.
