Soft Tissue Regeneration Awarded Patent for Bioresorbable Cruciate Ligament Regenerative Scaffold
Soft Tissue Regeneration, an early-stage orthopaedic device company, has announced that it has been issued US Patent 8,486,143, which relates to the L-C Ligament trademarked product, a device for soft tissue regeneration of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee.
Invented by Cato T Laurencin, MD, PhD, the L-C Ligament is a bioresorbable scaffold that is designed to regenerate knee ligament tissue after ACL reconstruction surgery. The patented technology uses a clinically-proven degradable polymer called poly(L) lactide acid (PLLA) to address known risks and morbidity associated with allograft and autograft tissues. The cutting-edge technology requires no harvesting of the patient's tendon, which eliminates the risks associated with the harvest site.
Last month, Soft Tissue Regeneration announced the enrolment of its first patient in a clinical trial of the company's L-C Ligament, which utilises the technology addressed in this patent. The patient was implanted at Isala Klinieken on June 18, 2013, in Zwolle, The Netherlands, by a team led by Dr Kees van Egmond. The implant surgery was performed successfully and the patient is recovering well and has started physical therapy.
STR has several patents issued and pending related to its breakthrough bioengineering platform used to regrow ligaments and tendons.
The L-C Ligament is said to encourage the regeneration of the patient's own ligament tissue. To date, results from large-scale animal testing at one year and longer have demonstrated that the L-C Ligament can successfully regenerate a native ligament intra-articularly.
The L-C Ligament is an investigational device and is not available for use or sale in the European Union or the United States. It is only available as part of the clinical trial.
About Soft Tissue Regeneration
Soft Tissue Regeneration (STR) is a medical device company whose aim is to apply its patented and proprietary technology comprised of PLLA, a degradable polymer, in orthopaedic implant devices for regeneration and augmentation of soft tissue. In addition to the L-C Ligament, STR has also developed a suite of associated products, including the STR GRAFT, an FDA 510(k)-cleared innovative device for soft tissue augmentation of the rotator cuff in the United States.