BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 2005--Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR) today announced that it has been awarded an SBIR Phase I grant for $156,878 from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop nanophase calcium phosphate coatings loaded with bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs). The coatings will be used to improve bone integration into dental implants, leading to more rapid and reliable device fixation. The project takes advantage of Spire's unique nanocrystalline film deposition technology to produce coatings that control the release rate of BMPs. The coatings will maintain critical threshold concentrations of BMPs only at the implant site and provide a scaffold over which bone growth can occur.
