Deeper loss but high hope at Tissue Regenix

TISSUE Regenix, which grows replacement body parts, believes it is on the way to becoming a major player in regenerative medicine.

The York-based spin-out, which floated on the Alternative Investment Market in June 2010, yesterday reported on a year during which pre-tax losses deepened to £5.7m but the company said it made big steps to commercialising its technology.

“We have made major strides in the advancement of our broad pipeline of products which are being developed to address major global markets,” said managing director Antony Odell.

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“Entering our second year as a public company, we believe that we are poised to accelerate towards our goal of becoming a major player in regenerative medicine.”

Mr Odell was confident the company would live up to this expectation within a couple of years, as it gained recognition among clinicians and major medical supplies companies.

“Within the next two years we will certainly be able to say we’re in some major categories.

“We’re in a very good position. We’ve got an exceptional pipeline. We’re not a one-shot wonder with a single product. We’re in big markets. It’s ambitious but it’s not an unachievable goal.”

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Tissue Regenix has yet to record its first revenues. It finished the year to the end of January with cash of £5.9m.

Mr Odell is confident the company will start making sales, initially of its dCELL vascular patch, within the next year.

The patch, which is used to repair damaged blood vessels, earned the CE mark in August by winning approval from European regulators. The company is now appointing distributors and hopes to gain recognition among surgeons.

Tissue Regenix also plans to extend the use of the patch into areas such as cardiac surgery, and later this year will be applying for approval to sell the product in the United States.

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The company also has high hopes for its meniscal repair product, which will be used to fix damaged cartilage in knees.

As well as aiming to treat elderly patients whose knees have worn out, Tissue Regenix is targeting the “weekend warrior” – athletes and amateur sportsmen carrying knee injuries.

“Meniscus is a far more substantial market (than vascular),” said Mr Odell. “It’s very much more about lifestyle than medical need – young weekend warrior types who play football at the weekend and damage their knees. They want to get back to doing the things they did before. There’s a quality-of-life aspect to it.”

Mr Odell said meniscus damage poses huge challenges to healthcare providers, as knee injuries often turn into arthritis later in life.

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“People are going to need longer-term solutions, otherwise health services are going to be burdened by tremendous costs.

“One of the important arguments we make is the health economics argument – it’s pretty powerful.

“Kids born now are going to live to the age of 100 – things will wear out.”

The company’s other projects target skin and heart repair. It recently signed a deal with Brazil’s Pontifical Catholic University of Parana, which helps it enter the $1bn heart valve market.

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The deal gives the company access to five years of clinical data, which will support the development of Tissue’s own heart value product.

Path around rejection problem

Tissue Regenix’s unique technology works by removing cells from animal or body parts to creating a clean “scaffold”.

This decellularised tissue is then inserted into the human body to replace damaged or diseased parts without requiring anti-rejection drugs.

The implant becomes part of the body, allowing the regeneration of the tissue.

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The implants are inert, meaning they can be classified as medical devices. They do not require refrigeration or special storage, and can be kept on the shelf, reducing costly handling charges. They are also subject to faster and less costly regulatory approval processes than pharmaceutical products.

The company was spun out of the University of Leeds in 2006.

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