Bactiguard and Smartwise Sweden have entered into a joint development project for advanced, Bactiguard-coated vascular injection catheters and at the same time, a license agreement has been signed.
Under the agreement, Smartwise will pay USD 2.5 million, for the exclusive and global right to the Bactiguard technology for this application, payable in 2017, and followed by royalty payments once the products are commercialized.
“We are very excited about the partnership with Smartwise, as it expands our technology to a completely new application area. Delivering drugs and other therapies to vital organs is a complicated and delicate form of intervention, where the anti-infective and tissue friendly properties of the Bactiguard coating will reduce risks and increase patient safety,” says Cecilia Edström, SVP Sales and New Business.
“The advanced injection technology we are developing has the potential to become a major breakthrough in delivering therapies to targeted and critical areas of the body, such as the heart and the brain. By applying the Bactiguard coating to our micro catheters, we can reduce the risk of infections, thrombosis and allergic reactions for critically ill patients,” says Jonathan Clarke, CEO Smartwise. “In addition, the unique combination of the anti-thrombotic and electrical conductive properties of the coating allows us to further develop our catheter technology to access the most remote parts of the brain. This will add significant value to our technology as we are entering commercial negotiations with third parties.”
The coating process for the micro catheters developed by Smartwise will be developed by Bactiguard. Smartwise will be responsible for the certification and registration process and for conducting clinical trials. Once Smartwise starts receiving revenues from its customers, Bactiguard will receive royalties as a percentage of third party sales. The product is currently in the pre-clinical development phase, and it is expected that it will take some three to five years until the product will be approved for clinical use.
By entering the agreement with Smartwise, Bactiguard expands its license business to comprise three different therapeutic areas, Foley catheters, orthopaedic implants and now, advanced transvascular injection catheters. Through the new development project and license agreement with Smartwise, Bactiguard takes a step towards entering another interesting therapeutic area, whereby drugs and other interventional therapies can be targeted and delivered to specific organs, such as the heart, lungs and the brain. The full potential of this application is yet unexplored, but pharmaceutical companies, researchers and clinicians see a great benefit in being able to deliver high dose, locally targeted therapies to damaged tissue, following for example stroke and heart attack, or to tumors for high dose chemotherapy.
