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Magenta Medical to Commercialize New Surgical Membrane Products

Posted on Wednesday, October 9, 2013

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--()--Magenta Medical Inc. has been incorporated to manufacture a new type of surgical membranes, which are routinely used by physicians and dentists to separate tissues and to provide support during wound healing. The proprietary membranes are composed of dense chitosan, a natural and non-toxic sugar polymer that is typically prepared from the chitin shells of shrimp. The innovative technology is patent pending and was developed by Agenta Biotechnologies Inc. (www.agentabio.com), located in Birmingham’s Innovation Depot. The first publication of the new membrane technology is in press in the Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition (www.tandfonline.com/toc/tbsp20/current).

Magenta, The Color of Wound HealingTM, was co-founded by two experienced scientist-entrepreneurs, Drs. Tom Dooley and Arthur DeCarlo.

“We are the first company to develop chitosan, a well-known material, into a suture-able membrane form with excellent properties for use in the clinic,” said Dr. Dooley, the CEO of the new firm. “We expect that this unique technology will be a game-changer for the commercial surgical membrane marketplace.”

Dr. DeCarlo, a clinician and medical researcher, conceived and reduced to practice the invention while considering the literal and figurative “weaknesses” of current commercial surgical membranes, such as collagen membranes. The discovery was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The dense chitosan membranes are being developed as medical devices for use in a wide variety of therapeutic indications by oral, orthopedic, general, plastic, and dermatologic surgeons. The firm anticipates a 2012 filing of its first medical device application with the US Food and Drug Administration for use in oral surgery.

The dense chitosan membrane biomaterial serves as a platform technology for Magenta. In addition to serving as surgical membranes, it may also be used as wound dressings and to deliver active ingredients, such as drugs, biologics, and vaccines. Magenta is currently seeking investors and strategic business partners to hasten the commercialization of these new products.







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