New Zealand biomedical company Aroa Biosurgery faces accelerating growth after a significant investment of up to US$25 million in its surgical partner for commercial expansion.
Auckland, October 30 2017: New Zealand biomedical company Aroa Biosurgery faces accelerating growth after a significant investment of up to US$25 million in its surgical partner for commercial expansion.
Aroa Biosurgery uses its proprietary Endoform™, a novel extracellular matrix platform for soft tissue repair and reconstruction, to develop and manufacture surgical implants for its United States-based surgical partner, TELA Bio.
Brian Ward, chief executive of Aroa Biosurgery, says TELA Bio’s OviTex™ product line leverages the unique properties of Aroa’s proprietary Endoform technology to create a new class of reinforced bioscaffolds. He says it addresses the short comings associated with existing synthetic meshes and biologic tissue matrices.
TELA Bio has licensed the commercial rights to OviTex for hernia repair, abdominal wall and breast reconstruction in the U.S. and European markets.
“Now OviTex has attracted the interest of NASDAQ-listed Pacira Pharmaceuticals,” Ward says. “Pacira will make an initial investment in TELA Bio of $15 million with the potential for a further $10 million to accelerate the pursuit of TELA Bio’s licensed commercial rights. This investment could result in almost $100 million being committed to support commercialization of OviTex .”
Antony Koblish, president of TELA Bio, says Pacira’s investment will provide additional resources to scale-up TELA Bio’s clinical and commercial efforts for hernia and abdominal wall reconstructions and help develop new OviTex products for soft tissue procedures such as breast reconstruction.
In a statement Dave Stack, chairman of Pacira, says OviTex is a “highly innovative and differentiated solution that is positioned to emerge as a leading surgical mesh that synergistically blends the strength of a synthetic with the regenerative properties of a biologic”.
Ward says this builds on Aroa Biosurgery’s Endoform™ Dermal Template franchise which is well-established in the U.S. for chronic wound treatment and marketed through Hollister. It has been used in more than two million treatments of diabetic and venous ulcers.
He says this latest vote of confidence in Aroa’s product portfolio and technology platforms means the company will be looking to further scale up development and manufacturing in New Zealand and expand into further markets. Aroa’s business model has been to partner with leading medical technology companies to distribute its products.
About Aroa Biosurgery:
Aroa Biosurgery (Aroa) is a privately held soft tissue repair and reconstruction company.
For information contact:
Brian Ward
Aroa Biosurgery Ltd
www.arobio.com
Ph: +64 21 727646
Email: brian.ward@aroabio.com
