Start-up pitches high-tech glue for surgical leaks

TEL AVIV — An Israeli medical-device start-up is tackling one of the most dangerous occurrences in surgery — and it's doing it with glue.LifeSeal is a glue-like substance that augments and, in some surgeries like hernias, replaces the traditional and painful sealing procedures of staples, tacks and sutures.The privately-owned Israeli company behind the high-tech glue, LifeBond, says it should help in the treatment of post-operative leaks in closures of gastrointestinal and other surgical wounds. Patients get back up to speed more quickly and are more comfortable as they do.Orahn Preiss-Bloom, one of LifeBond's co-founders, says the company's proprietary materials, which combine gelatin and an enzyme and are delivered by an applicator, were inspired by two sources: research by Professor Gregory Payne at the University of Maryland and the use of the enzyme for food applications in Asia.The company is backed by some of Israel's top venture-capital firms as well as by Robert Taub, a prominent medical-innovation investor. And the idea is strong enough that Johnson & Johnson (TICKER: JNJ), the New Jersey-based international health-care giant, has put money down on LifeBond.The technology is currently in European clinical trials. And with an eye to entering the U.S. market as well, CEO Gideon Sturlesi and Preiss-Bloom are looking for partners and raising capital.TWO CURRENT APPLICATIONSStarted in 2007 and employing 35 people from headquarters in Caesarea, Israel, LifeBond fo...
Source: Medical Hemostat - Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Source Type: blogs