Kleinostheim, Germany, 17th November 2009 – curasan AG, which is listed on the General Standard of the German Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE 000 549 453 8), has signed a research and development agreement with the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), Israel. The cooperation project on which the agreement focuses is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and has the ultimate goal of developing special carrier materials for the purpose of bone regeneration.
A team led by Dr. Hanna Rapaport, from the Faculty of Biotechnology at BGU, has developed and patented a new protein matrix that can significantly accelerate the process of bone regeneration.
Together with curasan, BGU now intends to combine this matrix with an inorganic carrier in order to be able to manufacture a range of bone regeneration materials for orthopaedic and dental treatments. curasan AG will invest 900,000 of the 1.48 million euros of funding in the work being carried out by the Israeli research team. In return, curasan has been granted first rights to exclusive licensing terms for all the products resulting from the cooperation.
“The funding we have received will allow us to create a generation of new products that significantly improve bone regeneration processes while retaining the beneficial qualities of our purely inorganic, resorbable materials”, states Dr. Fabian Peters, Head of Biomaterials Research and Development at curasan. With regard to the signing of the contract, Dr. Rapaport comments: “Our research cooperation aims to combine the proteins from BGU with the curasan products in order to develop a range of regenerative products that support the body’s natural healing processes and which provide optimal support to bone regeneration.”
Background information about curasan AG:
Exchange listed curasan AG (ISIN: DE 000 549 453 8) is one of the leading firms in the field of regenerative medicine especially in bone and tissue regeneration. In addition to the synthetic Cerasorb® bone substitution and regeneration material, the company has developed a future-oriented product pipeline. The goal during the next few years is to have further medical products ready for market rollout via well-positioned contractual partners in various market segments.
