Oxford Biomaterials Ltd Vascular grafts
Oxford Biomaterials (OBM) is working on a novel vascular graft for hemodialysis access applications. Current synthetic grafts
on the market are inefficient, as a consequence of their material composition. 50%
of current grafts fail within one year, most
grafts require 2 post-operative interventions per year to restore functionality, and over 75% of
grafts are replaced within 2 years. Despite this poor performance, vascular
grafts must remain a part of dialysis access treatment because more than 33% of
dialysis patients do not have vessels suitable for autologous fistulas, the
current clinical gold standard for dialysis access. Oxford Biomaterial’s prototype vascular graft
is entirely made of natural silk proteins shaped into a
tubular scaffold. The biocompatible
material could offer the first efficient alternative to Fistulas. The OBM graft
is expected to be more biocompatible than synthetic grafts on the market, better integrated and last longer than current products, reducing multiple post-operative interventions, significantly improving quality of
life and reducing overall dialysis costs to healthcare systems worldwide.Our graft is also expected to be functional immediately after implantation, as results have shown excellent leak resistance. Oxford Biomaterials has developed this vascular graft in collaboration with the Minimally Invasive New Technology (MINT) Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
| Neurotex Ltd Nerve repair Neurotex Ltd was established to develop novel silk based products for a new generation of nerve repair materials and treatments. Neurotex Ltd. was initially created as a joint venture company bringing together the unique silk-based materials technology of Oxford Biomaterials Ltd. with the neural regeneration expertise of Professor John Priestley, Head of Neuroscience at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry. Product: Oxford Biomaterials Ltd. has designed a Spidrex nerve conduit capable of directing regeneration of a severed nerve. Research in the laboratory of Professor John Priestley, Neurotex’s Founding Scientist has demonstrated Spidrex to be a highly advantageous substrate for neural regeneration and promotes oriented neural regrowth. Experiments show that regenerating nerve cells bind to Spidrex fibres and grow along them, leading to improved recovery of sensation and motor control by comparison with controls in trials. There are plans to roll out the work into spinal nerve repair in due course. Market: Hundreds of thousands of patients per year suffer cut, severed or torn nerves. Peripheral nerve injury can result in loss of sensation, paralysis, loss of control of body functions and chronic pain. Other nervous system injuries, such as avulsion of spinal nerve roots and damage to the spinal cord itself add substantially to the toll. Approximately 35,000 spinal cord injuries take place in the major medical devices markets per year, resulting both in great personal cost and economic burden. The market for an efficacious neural regeneration conduit is conservatively estimated at $100 million annually. | Orthox Ltd Cartilage repair Orthox Ltd., a spin out company from Oxford Biomaterials Ltd., was established in early 2009 to take forward Oxford Biomaterials' cartilage repair technologies. Oxford Biomaterials Ltd has developed porous Spidrex scaffolds with remarkably similar properties to human cartilage and bone including the capability to withstand compressive loads equivalent to the surrounding cartilage and bone tissue. Taking advantage of the remarkable strength and tissue regenerative capacity of Spidrex®, Orthox has developed Spidrex® technology for a range of applications in bone and joint repair, with an initial focus on addressing the largely unsolved problem of repair and regeneration of the meniscal cartilage in the knee. Spidrex® MRS™ is currently in clinical evaluation. Orthox Ltd.also plans a deep pipeline of further bone and joint repair devices based on Spidrex® tissue scaffolds. For more information please visit their website www.orthox.co.uk |
