MiMedx Group has secured a Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) grant of $244,479 from the US Government, to defer some of the company's research expenditures related to the development of patented technology, CollaFix, as a drug delivery device.
The CollaFix collagen fiber technology was designed by MiMedx to mimic the natural composition, structure and mechanical properties of musculoskeletal tissues in order to augment their repair. CollaFix is the only biological, biodegradable, biomimetic technology that matches human tendon in strength and stiffness.
MiMedx claims that CollaFix also has characteristics as a potential drug delivery device which may enable it to deliver therapeutics while facilitating soft tissue repair.
MiMedx chairman and CEO Parker Petit said that CollaFix was developed with their patented cross-linking polymers and is designed to mimic native tissue biomechanics.
"As a drug delivery device, CollaFix has the potential to be far superior to conventional drug delivery devices," Petit said.
"We anticipate CollaFix may have greater stability in-vivo and its characteristics may permit it to deliver drugs and other therapeutics to a precise site over an extended time and it could minimise tissue damage."
MiMedx president and chief operating officer Bill Taylor said that one of the remarkable qualities of CollaFix is its potential to absorb and deliver antibiotics and other therapeutics.
"CollaFix as a drug delivery device potentially could treat both acute and chronic diseases. Some of its possible applications include the administration of anti-inflammatory drugs during ligament and tendon surgery, administration of antibiotics to prevent infections associated with implantable medical devices such as pacemakers and glucose monitors, and antibiotics administration for the treatment of chronic diabetic ulcers," Taylor said.