Biomaterials maker puts devices to work inside the body

June 23, 2009 Biomaterials maker puts devices to work inside the body
By OMAR EL AKKAD
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

For years, some of the greatest advancements in medicine have come in the form of implants - life-saving gadgets such as artificial heart valves that keep the body running.

But such devices have always come with serious risks. For one thing, the body doesn't like foreign objects, and has a habit of rejecting them. Patients also face the risks of blood clots and infections, which can be life-threatening.

That's where Interface Biologics comes in. The Toronto-based company is designing technology that could revolutionize the world of medical implants.

Founded in 2001 by University of Toronto nanotechnologist Paul Santerre, Interface makes coatings for medical devices designed to be implanted in the human body. The company focuses on three areas: preventing blood clots, inhibiting infection and delivering drugs, says Tom Reeves, Interface's president and chief executive officer.

To solve these problems, Interface is working on biomaterials that can perform specific tasks in the body. Indeed, some of the company's technologies can themselves be controlled by the body's own immune system.

One of Interface's products, Endexo, is designed to be used in devices such as catheters. Although the product, which comes in powder, liquid or semi-solid form, isn't technically a coating, its molecular makeup causes it to rise to the surface of the material used in the medical device. It creates, in effect, a smooth barrier just a few nanometers thick.

The barrier stops cells from sticking, and tricks the body into leaving the device alone. The result is a much-reduced risk of clotting, and less likelihood that the body will treat the device as an unwanted presence. The substance could be used in products such as feeding tubes and wound-drainage devices.

For many patients using such devices, the risk of infection in the first 10 to 15 days can be very high, Mr. Reeves says, and what is perhaps Interface's most significant technology is designed to tackle this problem. Epidel, a "bioresponsive polymer," is essentially a bug-killing coating that balloons to the surface of medical devices and fights infections.

Interface's researchers also realized that the rate of drug delivery could be partly controlled by the body. When humans fight an infection, our bodies release enzymes into the bloodstream that could also signal Interface's technology to release more drugs.

"[Drug] release is heightened when the body fights infection," says Mr. Reeves. "Enzymes break the bonds and release additional antibiotics."

Besides its potential use as a coating, Epidel can also be built into the fibre of items such as hernia patches and bandages.

Interface is also working on another coating called Kinesyx, which could be used to deliver multiple therapeutic drugs at once. Kinesyx can also be eliminated through the renal system. "When it finishes, you can just pee it out," Mr. Reeves says.

The company is developing partnerships with major manufacturers, and has attracted funding from three venture capital outlets. Mr. Reeves says the company hopes to have its technologies commercialized by next year.

CTVglobemedia Publishing, Inc
Reprinted from Globe and Mail, in the "Report On Business" section.

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