Two North Carolina Firms Team Up to Provide Surgical Masks

TAIJI Medical Supplies of Lincolnton and Greensboro-based Carolina Liquid Chemistries Corp. have partnered to provide surgical face masks to hospitals, surgery centers, dentists’ offices and other health care facilities throughout the United States.

The distribution partnership comes after TAIJI received 510(k) clearance for its Professional Series Level 3 Surgical Face Mask from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2021.

Such marketing clearance is granted when a medical device is shown to be safe and effective, and substantially equivalent to a legally marketed device. ASTM Level 3 is the FDA's highest rating for medical and surgical face masks.

TAIJI selected Carolina Liquid Chemistries as its distribution partner for the U.S. market.

“We are always looking for new and better ways to supply our healthcare customers,” said Philip Shugart, founder and chief executive officer of Carolina Liquid Chemistries. “Because we already supply so many healthcare facilities, we were well positioned to expand that value proposition to include PPE [personal protective equipment]. And since these are such high-quality, American-made masks, this partnership fit perfectly with our goals as a company.”

Shugart’s company is an FDA-registered manufacturer, re-packager, re-labeler and re-seller of chemistry systems and reagents, as well as COVID-19 tests and supplies. It helps clinical laboratories of all sizes reduce chemistry analyzer and reagent costs while also receiving accurate and timely results. 

The company has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by providing various testing products and supplies under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization.

The business was founded in 1994 and has more than 40 employees.

TAIJI has produced face masks for health care professionals and consumers since July 2020. It has 120,000 square feet of manufacturing space and the capacity to produce millions of face masks per month.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the company has provided thousands of free masks to organizations in its community including Lenoir-Rhyne University, Catawba Valley Community College and Isothermal Community College.