US orthopaedic company to test pSiMedica nanomaterials

pSiMedica, the UK subsidiary of WA-based company pSiVida, has signed a materials exchange research agreement with Implex Corporation, a US orthopaedic products company.

Implex uses Hedrocel Trabecular Metal technology, a biomaterial based on highly porous structured tantalum, in FDA approved orthopaedic implants for hips, knees and the spine.

The agreement will allow Implex to test the use of pSiMedica's nano-structured porous BioSilicon as a coating for the Hedrocel implants.

"BioSilicon should provide better bonding than the current biomaterial, tantalum," said pSiVida's managing director Gavin Rezos.

He explained that, in addition to developing improved orthopaedic scaffolds using both the BioSilicon and Hedrocel technologies, evaluation of the BioSilicon coating as a means to deliver drugs to the implant site could eventually lead to a new generation of orthopaedic implants.

The agreement had a fairly short timeframe of about six months, said Rezos, and involved pSiMedica coating implants for Implex to evaluate.

He said that the agreement was very important to pSiMedica as it provided collaborative links to the orthopaedics industry as well as access to FDA approved products.

Implex has an exclusive strategic alliance with Bristol-Myers Squibb subsidiary Zimmer, a world leader in orthopaedic product design and manufacture, to commercialise its Hedrocel technology.

"While we are focused on slow-release drug delivery, this is a non-core use of the platform. Data from this will support development of our core drug delivery system," said Rezos.