ASHBURN, Va., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Innocoll, Inc. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Innocoll Technologies, has entered into a development and distribution agreement with Surgical-IOC for the development of an adhesion barrier product based on Innocoll’s CollaRx(TM) technology. Innocoll has granted Surgical-IOC exclusive worldwide rights to market and distribute potential products derived from the CollaRx technology for the specific indication of the prevention of surgical adhesions, with the exception of North America, Japan and Australasia.
Surgical adhesions form when tissue surfaces that are usually separated join together during the normal tissue repair process. Adhesions may occur following any surgery, but most often form after general abdominal, gynaecologic, orthopaedic, and cardiac surgery. Most adhesions are not considered serious; however, some can lead to significant complications including small bowel obstruction, infertility and chronic pelvic pain at a cost in excess of $1 billion a year in direct medical costs in the US. To reduce the occurrence of adhesions, surgeons can use adhesion barriers to keep tissues separate during the healing process.
Innocoll’s CollaRx membrane technology is a biocompatible and fully bioresorbable, collagen-based film, comprised of purified type I native fibrillar collagen. The CollaRx membrane technology product has been approved in Europe as a Class III medical device for other surgical and wound healing applications. Under the terms of the agreement, Surgical-IOC will fund the clinical studies necessary to establish the product as an effective adhesion barrier.
Dr. Michael Myers, President and CEO of Innocoll, Inc. commented, “We believe that our CollaRx membrane technology possesses ideal properties for an adhesion barrier in that it is both pliable and translucent, allowing for ease of use by the surgeon. This is yet another novel application of our CollaRx technology.”
Didier Mouton, President of Surgical-IOC, said, “This future membrane product will be the result of a synergistic collaboration between Innocoll and Surgical-IOC. We believe that this new membrane will have a beneficial impact on the market both from a technological and competitive point of view.” Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
About CollaRx
CollaRx is Innocoll Technologies’ lead technology platform for the site specific targeted delivery of a wide variety of medicines with particular emphasis on antibiotics, analgesics, and anesthetics. The CollaRx technology is the basis of Innocoll Pharmaceuticals’ lead product, COLLATAMP(R) G, which has been approved for over 10 years in 45 countries in North America, Europe, South America, Asia and Africa. COLLATAMP G is a lyophilized collagen sponge impregnated with the broad spectrum antibiotic gentamicin and is indicated for the treatment and prevention of hard- and soft-tissue infection post-surgery.
About Innocoll, Inc.
Innocoll is a privately held, international specialty pharmaceutical company engaged in the development and commercialization of advanced, differentiated medical products using its proprietary collagen-based technologies, CollaRx(TM) and LiquiColl(R). For more information, please visit http://www.innocoll.com.
About Surgical-IOC
Surgical-IOC is a privately held French company specializing in the development, manufacture, and international marketing of surgical devices including reinforcement implants for parietal surgery and rings for obesity surgery. For more information, please visit http://www.surgical-ioc.com.
Contact: Melissa Koch VP Marketing and Corporate Relations Innocoll, Inc. (610) 459 - 4278
Innocoll, Inc.
CONTACT: Melissa Koch, VP Marketing and Corporate Relations, Innocoll,Inc., +1-610-459-4278