103853Development of a synthetic alternative to autograft bone - osteo3ClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKThe major outcome of this project will be the development by SIRAKOSS Ltd of a bone graft substitute product that will replace the need for surgeons to harvest bone from a patient to act as a graft to repair diseased or damaged bone. Currently surgeons who are repairing fractured bones after traumatic injury, or filling a bone defect after removal of diseased bone, or fusing vertebrae in the spine to alleviate back pain have limited options for obtaining a bone graft to aid effective and fast bone repair in these surgeries. The clinical ‘standard’ has been to harvest bone from the patient’s own body (an autograft) but this needs a second operation, results in significant pain at the harvest site, has a limited supply, and may not be possible in some patients. The reasons that a patient’s own bone is the clinical ‘standard’ is that it offers a unique combination of bone forming properties that supports bone to repair. A number of synthetic materials have been produced as bone graft substitutes but these do not provide the range of bone forming properties that autograft does. INNOVATE UK Biomedical Catalyst funding of 70% of a total project cost of approximately £1,300,000 gives SIRAKOSS the opportunity to develop, approximately 2 years ahead of current timescales, a new synthetic bone graft substitute that combines SIRAKOSS’ patented technology with collagen to form an implant that the surgeon can use straight from a sterile package, offering the properties of autograft but without the disadvantages to the patient that the use of autograft brings.