DiFusion Technologies, Inc. today announced promising data for the
company’s ZFUZE Immuno-Stealth™ Surgical Polymer. The data and the
importance of the immune system response in new technologies such as
ZFUZE were debated at the Castellvi Spine Symposium in Key West in April.
The immune system plays a vital role in tissue healing, but only
recently have experts come to understand the importance of the immune
system in normal tissue/organ development, remodeling following injury,
and regeneration and how important it is to consider the immune response
in the design and development of implantable medical materials and
devices.
Stephen Badylak, DVM, MD, PhD, Deputy Director of the McGowan Institute
for Regenerative Medicine, is among the foremost experts the immune
response to biomaterials. He discussed data related to ZFUZE at the
Castellvi Spine meeting. “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,” said Dr. Badylak. “We have tested over 300 different
biomaterials with respect to the type of macrophage response that is
elicited and have never seen immunomodulation like we have for ZFUZE in
anything other than a naturally occurring molecule.”
“Dr. Badylak’s presentation at the Castellvi Spine meeting was a wake-up
call to the industry. For many years orthopedic OEM’s have borrowed
materials like titanium and PEEK from the aerospace industry, based on
strength or surface topography. He showed us an entirely new way of
looking at the host response to medical implants,” said Stephen
Hochschuler, MD, Founder and CEO, Texas Back Institute. “Companies
should be looking to material biocompatibility first and foremost when
selecting 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,” said Derrick Johns, Founder and CEO of DiFusion
Technologies. “Achieving this milestone has really brought DiFusion into
the forefront of biomaterial research.”
Additional information about ZFUZE will be presented during the
“Industry Implant Architecture Smack Down” led by Peter Whang, MD, FACS,
Associate Professor of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, Yale School of
Medicine. This will take place during the State of Spine Surgery Think
Tank meeting June 27–29, 2019 in Aruba.
About DiFusion
Founded in 2008 in Austin, Texas, DiFusion Technologies, Inc. is a life
sciences company focused on developing a suite of patented orthobiologic
polymeric implants. For more information ZFUZE
Science and Engineering or www.difusiontech.com.
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