an opportunity, and O’Brien contends that—at least in animal studies—HydroxyColl has shown to be as effective as autologous bone grafts or the Medtronic product.
O’Brien concedes that HydroxyColl is the startup’s “safe,” first product; its composition is similar to that of already-approved devices, so its regulatory path should be shorter than it would be for a more radically new technology. But since there is less established competition in the field for cartilage repair, there’s a bigger revenue opportunity with SurgaColl’s second product candidate, ChondroColl, O’Brien says. That’s the one that investors have shown more interest in, he adds.
ChondroColl is designed to work similarly to HydroxyColl, but to repair cartilage rather than bone. That scaffold has three layers, designed to match the exact makeup of the surface of a joint: a bottom layer of bone graft substitute, covered by a layer of smooth cartilage, with a top coating with collagen and glycosaminoglycans (sugars that lubricate the surface of cartilage). As with the bone repair product, ChondroColl soaks up cells from the bone marrow. O’Brien says in this case, however, the cells on the bottom become bone, the cells on the top become cartilage, and a line—called a “tidemark”—forms between the two, protecting the cartilage from the bone. O’Brien says the formation of this line is one of the things that differentiates ChondroColl from competing technologies. Without it, “over time you end up getting bone in the cartilage area.”
The technology, “has got real, real potential because it could be used to treat god knows how many people who suffer from arthritis around the world,” O’Brien says. “I wouldn’t say it’s going to prevent the need for knee replacements or hip replacements necessarily, but it would certainly delay it.”
Of course all of that is going to have to be proven with clinical data and, eventually sales figures. In the meantime, O’Brien says SurgaColl is signing distribution agreements with certain unspecified industry players, gearing up for a launch of HydroxyColl. But the company doesn’t know yet if HydroxyColl will be as safe and effective as it hopes in humans, or if surgeons will choose it over other options.
So far, SurgaColl has got about 2 million euros in seed backing from the AIB Seed Capital Fund (an entity co-managed by Enterprise Equity Venture Capital), Harmac Medical Products, Enterprise Ireland (a government agency supporting Irish startups), and some “high net worth individuals,” according to O’Brien. That cash has helped SurgaColl set up manufacturing facilities in Dublin and Castlerea. But the startup will need a whole lot more for the human clinical studies it aims to run to get FDA clearance for ChondroColl and into the U.S. market. It’ll be a lot clearer next year if SurgaColl has the staying power to make it that far.
“As things stand right now, everything is going really well,” O’Brien says, before cautioning: “It’s a spinout, you don’t know—this week’s good, next week is bad.”
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Manny M. via Creative Commons
