TissueGen, a developer of biodegradable polymer technology for implantable drug delivery across a wide variety of therapeutic applications, has been issued a patent from US Patent and Trademark Office for a self-expanding medical device capable of drug elusion within the body.

TissueGen’s product meets the market’s need for devices that are self-expanding and can stay in place when implanted in tubular organs of the human body, according to the company. Such medical devices may act as vascular stents, or can hold or anchor other devices such as filters or indwelling catheters. 

Flexible and crush resistant

TissueGen’s latest patent applies to the invention of a helical coil comprising multiple reversing sense helical coil units that are capable of drug elution and are said to provide all the benefits of a small closed-cell stent design while maintaining high flexibility, high radial force and crush resistance.

The resulting device is said to be well-suited for the peripheral vascular system, but can benefit most applications where a device is required to maintain position within any tubular anatomical structure.

Definitive testing supports the strength of TissueGen’s helical coil-containing device compared to other stents, the company reports. This self-expanding device corrects the issues of previous generations of coil-based stents, which have typically had limited clinical success.

Unique design

“Helical coil stents have long been a good idea in theory but were prone to migrating in the artery and causing complications; in some scenarios the end-user patient could even end up with a narrower artery than they started with,” explained Dr Kevin Nelson, CSO, TissueGen.

“TissueGen’s device has a unique design which allows it to be self-anchoring and prevents tissue prolapse. Another improvement over existing products is that ours reduces the time and effort required by the surgeon to implant the device.”

Innovative technology

The latest patent is one of many intellectual property assets that the company currently holds. TissueGen has multiple patents in support of its unique extrusion process at room temperature, which enables delivery of the widest selection of drugs and biologically-based entities ever possible directly to targeted internal sites via its ELUTE biodegradable drug-loaded fibers.

Tailored design allows tunable release profiles and a unique biomaterial format for delivery of a broad range of therapeutics from small pharmaceuticals to protein-class drugs such as enzymes, growth factors, and even viral particles.

www.tissuegen.com