Need
There is a growing and heterogeneous group of patients who need dental surgery due to diseases or accidents. Estimates suggest that around 2.2 million procedures are performed yearly, and up to 50% of all dental implant procedures planned for the coming year will involve bone grafts. Bone and tissue substitutes can be natural, synthetic, or composite materials. But today so-called Autografts (using surgery to remove bone elsewhere from the patient) is still the gold standard. The problem is that it has a high risk of complications, including donor site morbidity, elevated donor site infection, acute pain, and morbidity.
Using stem cells from the patient to grow bone could be an alternative but this requires a so-called scaffold material to support cell growth and so far no one has managed to develop such a material.
Approach
The applicant has developed a green, mesoporous scaffold material with superior osteogenic properties compared to other commercial products. The material’s chemical
composition can be tailored for specific properties, such as strength, elasticity, host media dispersion, compatibility with body fluids, etc.
With substantial in vitro testing since 2020, the scaffold material has shown promising osteoinductive properties when using clinically isolated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). It means that it could allow surgeons to replace autologous grafts, with 3D constructs using an optimized biomaterial to grow tissue from the patient’s own cells.
Benefit
Some of the main benefits are:
- Superior osteogenic properties
- Promotes angiogenesis
- Non-inflammatory
- Superior biomechanical properties
Competition
Alternatives can involve using material from the patient, animals, or other humans. Other options include using bone grafting material like bio ceramics or bone cements.
There are hundreds of competitors but Bio-OSS (Geistlich) still dominates the market position for 30+ years. It is a bovine-based material that fulfills basic properties but lacks many effects needed in modern surgery, like supporting blood vessel growth or allowing for the natural growth of the jaw and bone in younger patients.