Renovite - pioneering use of synthetic nanoclays in regenerative medicine

Musculoskeletal conditions are the leading contributor to disability worldwide, with the most common and disabling conditions such as arthritis, back and neck pain, fractures and injuries. The UK currently spends over £2 bn/year on bone fractures alone and this cost is set to increase as the UK population ages. In fact, by 2030, it is expected that 23% of the UK population will be aged over 65\. Many bone fractures lead to orthopaedic operations that, in approximately 10% of cases, need to be repeated due to inadequate healing. While the prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions increases with age, younger people are also affected, often during their peak income-earning years.

Current bone healing agents are very effective at stimulating new bone growth but rely on very high doses which have been associated with some dangerous side effects such as excess bone growth outside of skeleton, inflammation and sometimes nerve damage when used in the spine. An important limiting factor is the current inability to localise the bone agent close the site of bone repair, and its cost.

Innovate UK funding has allowed Renovos, a young orthopaedic regenerative medicine company, spun out from the University of Southampton in 2017, to convert decades of government funded musculoskeletal research at the University into an exciting, innovative product, enabling the use of bone-healing agents in a more precise, localised manner, increasing their safety. This novel product, Renovite, based on a synthetic nanoclay biomaterial, allows use of the therapeutic agents at much lower doses for the same effect. Furthermore, because these agents are only released upon contact with cells, they can enhance healing in a more targeted manner to improve clinical outcomes with greater safety and at a lower cost.

With this Innovate UK funding, Renovos will accelerate development of Renovite as a therapeutic by creating further data required by the regulators in non-clinical models before the product can progress into first in-man trials. Ultimately, we anticipate our new product will provide a novel solution for tissue regeneration for difficult-to-treat fractures and bone fusions, providing a range of benefits to the UK economy and for increasingly active, younger demographics requiring tissue regeneration, as well as an ageing population.