Polynovo Partnering with Medtronic
BY SHELLY ACHAIBAR, FEBRUARY 13, 2006
Polynovo Biomaterials signed a partnering and licensing agreement with Medtronic for the development of a drug-eluting polymer stent to treat vascular diseases. Medtronic will hold equity in the company and pay royalties on the commercialization of the technology. PolyNovo Biomaterials Pty Ltd (PolyNovo) is an operating division of Xceed Biotechnology Ltd, an Australian Stock exchange listed company (ASX Code: XBL) PolyNovo is focused on developing a range of biocompatible and biodegradable polymers that will be used in next generation medical devices across multiple therapeutic areas.
The polymer was developed by a team led by Thilak Gunatillake at the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. The first application is for a stent to treat vascular disease. Clinical trails for this application were already conducted on "mini" pigs which have similar biological characteristics to humans. Additionally, Polynovo has stated its intention to extend into other areas such as spine and is working on the application of its NovoSorb Technology to treat other orthopedic diseases such as osteoarthritis. Given Medtronic's leading position in spine, we suspect this might be a technology platform for Medtronic to develop resorbable, possibly drug- or BMP-eluting, spinal fixation devices, particularly interbody cages.
