THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) has launched two innovative drug-eluting bone graft products. The products were unveiled by President of SCTIMST, S Kris Gopalakrishnan under the brand names CASPRO and BONYX. They were developed by the research team at the Biomedical Technology Wing of SCTIMST and commercialised by M/s Onyx Medicals Pvt Ltd, Meerut, UP.
‘BONYX’ contains bioceramic beads for local drug delivery in bone, mainly to handle bone infections. In this product, the bone mineral composition is designed as ceramic beads with multi-modal porosity, through a patented process.
The beads allow the vacuum loading of antibiotics or drugs in liquid form, and then release the same in the implanted region in a controlled manner, sustainable for more than 30 days.
Being composed of osteoconductive minerals, they integrate with native bone issues ensuring the dead-space management and local bone regeneration. ‘CASPRO’ is a bioactive, mouldable and self-setting bone cement designed for drug delivery in bone.
The product is composed of synthetic medical grade basanite (or calcium sulfate hemihydrate mineral), fortified with phosphate ions, prepared through a proprietary ‘drowning out’ precipitation process. On wetting with aqueous solution, the powder forms a putty or paste, which could be used for the repair of bone defects. In addition, the cement gives provision to add antibiotics or drugs to it, in either powder or liquid form, and facilitate the controlled release for a period of over 21 days.
Both products are the results of years of scientific research and development and validation for regulatory approval as per International Standards. The making of the products CASPRO and BONYX, which spanned over a decade, demonstrates a viable model in the country to develop biomedical products of global relevance through team work and academia-industry collaboration.