Pittsburgh-based Cohera Medical has received approval to begin clinical trials on its TissuGlu surgical adhesive in Europe. The clinical trials will take place in three cities around Germany: Bonn, Frankfurt and Freiburg. Patient recruitment is expected to start in November. Forty patients will be enrolled in the studies.
TissuGlu is designed to adhere surgical tissues in large flap surgeries such as abdominoplasty, a plastic surgery procedure in which excess skin and fat are removed. Fluids accumulate under the skin during the surgery, and they may require a second operaton to be properly drained. The purpose of TissuGlu is to adhere the tissue flaps created during the procedure. They product may reduce fluid accumulation, potentially eliminate the need for surgical drainage, and lead to a faster, easier recovery for the patient. Like Cohera’s other surgical adhesive products, TissuGlu is engineered to absorb back into the body when it is no longer needed.
Cohera Medical is one of several companies developing surgical adhesives. CryoLife of Kennesaw, Georgia, has already found marked success with its BioGlue product. BioGlue has already been used for tissue repair in over half a million surgeries worldwide. Other companies working in this space include:
Nerites Corporation, whose surgical adhesive mimics the protein components used by mussels to stick to rocks under water. The company received a grant by the National Institutes of Health in February 2009 to develop new techniques for tendon repair.
LifeBond creates surgical adhesives that are similar to the fibrin network of blood clots. In June, the company raised $8 million in a second round of financing.
Protein Polymer Technologies develops surgical adhesives and sealants based on high molecular weight polymers. Their products are designed to combine the properties of different proteins found in nature.