Accentus Medical is pleased to announce the launch of its manufacturing capability for commercial supply of Agluna® anti-microbial surface technology for titanium medical implants.
The launch is the culmination of a project building on successful design and development of pilot manufacturing capability during 2010/11 with financial catalyst support from InnovateUK (Technology Strategy Board) High Value Manufacturing grant. Subsequent to that prototype demonstration project, the company has completed detailed process development and validation studies in order to qualify the plant for customer manufacturing streams.
Agluna® harnesses the anti-microbial properties of silver ions in preventing device related infection. The technology is an electrochemical process involving high voltage anodisation of the titanium implant in phosphoric acid, followed by incorporation of silver ions from an aqueous solution. Agluna® is protected by several patent families registered in major global territories.
Accentus Medical is already using the new manufacturing capability in supplying Agluna® technology to its initial licensee, Stanmore Implants, within the orthopaedic limb salvage sector. The company also remains on course to scale up the capability in wider orthopaedic applications.
Dr Philip Agg, Chief Executive, today presented the company’s Agluna® manufacturing story at Day 2 of InnovateUK 2014, the UK’s leading showcase innovation event. During a session entitled Why Collaboration Worked for Us: Healthcare and High Value Manufacturing, Dr Agg explained the journey taken by the company in successfully upscaling the Agluna® technology from laboratory bench to the current commercial manufacturing capability. “The journey was very much a collaborative one. With support from InnovateUK and the Knowledge Transfer Network, we were able to access state-of-the-art expertise in the manufacturing skill sets required to upscale our Agluna® technology. Within the InnovateUK grant-funded project, we also received excellent support from our commercial partner, Stanmore Implants Worldwide, and from our scientific advisor, Professor Gordon Blunn at University College London.”
Accentus Medical plans further near-term investment to upgrade and expand the Agluna® manufacturing capability. This expansion is in support of planned increase in manufacturing based revenues over the coming five years, through development of its existing customer relationships and creation of new global market applications for its innovative Agluna® surface technology, alongside ongoing development of its established Acusure® plasma spray coating technology for promotion of implant fixation.
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For further information, please contact:
Philip Agg, CEO
T: +44 (0)1235 434328
Email: enquiries@accentus-medical.com