Cambridge, UK 23 January 2008 A consortium led by OrthoMimetics (OM) has been awarded £747k ($1.5m) from the UK Technology Strategy Board (TSB) for the commercial development of LigaMimetic, the second product based on OM s technology platform.
LigaMimetic is a porous, resorbable tissue-regeneration scaffold that uniquely mimics the composition and structure of ligaments and their bony insertions. It will be used initially to enhance existing surgical techniques for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, a procedure performed worldwide an estimated 500,000 times each year. For patients, this could mean a reduced risk of reinjury, a better chance of pain-free healing, and a greater likelihood of avoiding total joint replacement surgery later in life.
This award forms part of the TSB s remit to attract and develop technology-intensive companies, and follows the 2007 launch of a project, backed by an £817k UK-government grant, to develop ChondroMimetic, OM s flagship product for articular-cartilage repair. ChondroMimetic and LigaMimetic address a combined global market in excess of $1bn.
Joining OrthoMimetics in the consortium for the development of LigaMimetic are Devro PLC (“Devro"; DVO; www.devro.plc.uk): a FTSE-listed UK PLC and world-leader in processing technologies for collagen-based materials; Devro is a leading provider of medicalgrade collagen.
Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials (“CCMM”), part of the six-star RAE-rated Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge; www.msm.cam.ac.uk/ccmm. CCMM is a research institution recognised as a leading centre for the development and characterisation of medical materials.
Orthopaedic Research Unit (“ORU"; Addenbrooke’s Hospital, University of Cambridge; www.orthopaedics.cam.ac.uk): a renowned centre of excellence for preclinical and clinical research in the field of orthopaedics with a strong clinical and commercial track record. Commenting on the award, Andrew Lynn, CEO and Founder of OM said, We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with this world-class group of partners. The TSB s support is an important endorsement of our rapidly developing product line, and we look forward to putting these funds to work to help raise the standard of treatment in this important area of orthopaedic care.
Editors Notes: OrthoMimetics Limited is a medical technology company that specialises in the design, development, and manufacture of products for the treatment of sports injuries, trauma other conditions that affect knees, ankles and other articular joints.
Formed in 2005 as the first spin-out venture from the Cambridge-MIT Institute, the company is bringing to market a line of medicaldevice products designed to improve the treatment outcome of first-line surgical procedures for the regenerative repair of articular cartilage, ligament and tendon injuries. These products are engineered to be compatible with existing surgical techniques and to work in combination with emerging cell- and biologics-based products. Devro manufactures a broad range of collagen technologies under the international quality standard ISO 9001 and has facilities in Scotland, Australia, the Czech Republic and the US. Devro is the world s largest supplier of medical-grade collagen from Quality-controlled Australian sources.
The Orthopaedic Research Unit (ORU) is an independent unit within the University of Cambridge Department of Surgery at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. The Unit was set up in 1979 under the present Director, Professor Neil Rushton, with a primary aim of investigating the response of tissues and cells to implanted materials. Within this remit, the ORU is investigating the adverse responses of cells to wear material from artificial joints and evaluating new materials and implant designs that aim to minimise these problems. This research has yielded several important advances in orthopaedics over the last quarter of a century.
Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials (CCMM) is part of the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 2000 by Prof. William Bonfield and its research concerns the next generation of medical materials, which, unlike previous implant technology, interact therapeutically with the body. The CCMM is currently led by Co-Directors Dr Ruth Cameron and Dr Serena Best.
