Biodegradable Hernia Repair Device

A new medical device for hernia repair incorporates biodegradable technology to help the body repair itself.

The device, manufactured by TyRx Pharma (Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, USA), consists of a surgical mesh coated with a polymer based on a bioresorbable technology developed at Rutgers University's (New Jersey, USA) New Jersey Center for Biomaterials (CBM). The polymer gives the surgical mesh improved handling characteristics that facilitate precise placement during the surgical repair and leave less implant material following the resorption of the coating. The device has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The polymer used is one in a series, or library, of novel tyrosine-based polyarylates. Polyarylates arose from an adaptation of combinatorial chemistry to biomaterials. Two sets of starting materials are combined with each other in all possible combinations. In this way, a large variety of related polymers from a small number of initial starting materials can be produced. TyRx has licensed the entire 112 structurally related library of polyarylates from Rutgers, each one potentially useful in a wide range of medical implant applications.

"There are only a handful of synthetic, degradable polymers that have an FDA approval history. Therefore, the approval of the TyRx device employing a new biomaterial represents a major breakthrough for regenerative medicine. said Joachim Kohn, CBM director and professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers.




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TyRx Pharma
Rutgers University