Austin, Texas-based life sciences company Difusion Technologies released promising data for its ZFUZE Immuno-Stealth Surgical Polymer.
Deputy Director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Pittsburgh, Stephen Badylak, MD, debated the importance of the immune system response in new technology such as ZFUZE at the Castellvi Spine Symposium in Key West in April.
Five takeaways:
1. The immune system is crucial to tissue healing, but experts have only recently uncovered the importance of the immune system in normal tissue/organ development, remodeling and regeneration after injury, as well as the immune system significance in the design and development of implantable medical materials.
2. "Imagine having two materials and making identical devices in terms of the mechanical properties, such as pore size, but one material (PEEK) promotes a prolonged inflammatory response and the other material (ZFUZE) promotes a pro-healing remodeling response," Dr. Badylak said.
3. Dr. Badylak said out of over 300 biomaterials none have resulted in immunomodulation like ZFUZE, except a naturally occurring molecule.
4. Founder and CEO of Texas Back Institute in Plano Stephen Hochschuler, MD, labeled Dr. Badylak's presentation a "wake-up call" to the industry.
5. Dr. Hochschuler said that orthopedic equipment manufacturers have borrowed materials like PEEK and titanium from the aerospace based on strength for years, and that companies should look to material biocompatibility when choosing future biomaterials.
"Host rejection of medical implants is a major concern across virtually every sector of medicine. The results we have gleaned via Dr. Badylak’s work not only have major implications in orthopedics but in regenerative medicine as a whole,” added Derrick Johns, founder and CEO of Difusion Technologies.