Simula Launches Program to Commercialize Proprietary Polymers
5 May 2000
Simula Launches Program to Commercialize Proprietary Polymers; Signs Licensing Agreements With Leading Eyewear Manufacturers
PHOENIX--May 4, 2000--Simula Inc. today announced that -- in signing long-term strategic licensing agreements with PPG Industries and Intercast Europe -- the company has launched a far-reaching program to commercialize its family of patented impact-resistant transparent polymers.Originally developed in conjunction with government research and development programs, the lightweight polymers have high optical qualities, are dye compatible, and can withstand extremes in both temperature and chemical environment.
PPG Industries will combine Simula's polymers with its monomer and coating technologies for high-end prescription lens applications. Intercast Europe, a privately held Italian company, will incorporate the polymers in premium sports lenses.
Simula has retained the rights to the materials for other applications and will pursue additional commercial and military customers and markets, including vehicle armor, aircraft transparencies, bullet-resistant glazing, eye and face protection against impact and chemical attack, and protection against laser threats.
The materials are patented in the United States, with patents pending in Europe and Asia. According to the company, it has been told by industry sources that its polymers represent the first significant improvement in plastics since the introduction of polycarbonates almost 40 years ago.
Donald W. Townsend, Simula's president and CEO, noted that the agreements with PPG and Intercast are representative of a three-pronged marketing strategy under which Simula will use licensing agreements, raw material supply, and manufacturing to fund the utilization of proprietary technologies in other safety-related products, some of which Simula may produce itself.
"For example," said Townsend, "the company is currently supplying sheets of the polymer to a manufacturer of protective goggles, and we are actively exploring additional applications in transparent armor for both civilian and military vehicles.
"The commercialization strategy announced here is one in a series of programs associated with the company's recently announced FASTrack product portfolio management and technology planning process, which is designed to bring commercially viable products to market more quickly and efficiently," said Townsend.
"These advanced polymers -- which neatly complement the company's ever-growing portfolio of innovative technologies -- represent a significant opportunity for the company.
"In the present instance -- given the requisite economies of scale, production capacity and distribution channels -- PPG and Intercast Europe are far better suited than Simula to capitalize on polymer-related opportunities in the ophthalmic and sports lens markets.
"Here, then, is a case where our three-pronged approach to commercialization will provide an income stream while we develop our own lines of polymer-based safety products," he said.
Paul Peiffer, manager of sales and marketing for optical monomers and coatings at PPG, anticipates significant market penetration for prescription eyewear applications in the United States and Europe.
"Simula's impact-resistant, transparent polymers are good base materials. When combined with PPG's monomer technologies, the product is an excellent choice to meet the quality and impact requirements of ophthalmic applications," said Peiffer. PPG plans to introduce the impact-resistant polyurethane materials by the end of this year.
Intercast Europe President Paolo Baiocchi, said his company's license agreement with Simula will result in Intercast adding an initial manufacturing capacity for sun and sport lenses of about 1 million pairs of lenses, and that he expects future expansion will be necessary to meet increased market demand.
"After reviewing Simula's line of cast polymers, we recognized the great potential they hold to become the lens material of preference," said Baiocchi. "Simula's polymers overcome the limitations and constraints faced by eyewear manufacturers when dealing with competing lens materials such as acrylic, hard resin and polycarbonate.
"With the Simula polymers, we can offer today the same high optical quality and stability of hard resin with an impact strength and scratch resistance exceeding polycarbonate, making it the material of choice for sport, leisure and fashion eyewear."
PPG is the world's largest producer of optical grade monomers used in the manufacture of ophthalmic lenses. The company developed the patent for the industry's leading lens substrate -- CR-39 monomer -- more than 50 years ago, and supplies optical monomer and coatings to the ophthalmic industry worldwide.