Surgical adhesions—tissues that aberrantly stick to each other—occur in 55-90% of patients following surgery. Because physicians can’t predict which patients will develop them or which ones will cause clinical complications, there’s a large unmet need for products that can be given to all surgical patients to prevent the formation of adhesions.
Two products on the market—Genzyme’s Seprafilm and J&J’s Interceed ( NO LONGER ON MARKET)—have only scratched the surface of the possible market, both because they’re difficult to use, say many surgeons, and because they aren’t indicated for laparoscopic procedures. Although the field has been a landmine for several companies in the past—notably Gliatech and Lifecore Biomedical—a new generation of companies hopes to lick the problem with new and improved bioabsorbable materials, many of them suitable for future drug-loaded generations of products. These include Afmedica, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, ARC Pharmaceuticals, Confluent Surgical, FzioMed, Kytogenics Pharmaceuticals, and Sentrx Surgical.
Demonstrating the clinical relevance of adhesion prevention products is a challenging proposition, since there are no ways to determine the presence or absence of adhesions apart from symptoms in some patients, or a second laparoscopic procedure to look into the body. And for all the challenges inherent in getting biomaterial-based implants to market, surgical adhesion barriers aren’t high-priced items; they sell in the $300-$500 range. Still, start-ups hope that an untapped market worth $500 million or more that witnesses a high volume of procedures will reward them for their efforts.
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