Start-up Pegmatiss Biotech and Erganeo have signed an exclusive licence for the use of an implantable biomaterial that is completely resorbable, designed for dental and orthopaedic regenerative bone medicine.
Many solutions have been developed in regenerative medicine to promote tissue reconstruction. But the problem has always been the risk of the material being rejected by the human body. This was the problem on which a team led by Prof Didier Lutomski (Sorbonne Paris North University, URIT – the Tissue Engineering Research Group) focused in their work on developing a new bone substitute for use in regenerative medicine, the idea being to improve tissue reconstruction.
The substitute was developed as an implantable composite biomaterial made from a bioresorbable elastomer and natural allogeneic bone particles. It therefore has the special quality of being bioresorbable and well tolerated by the human body. This technological innovation is particularly useful in the field of bone regeneration, as well as in dental surgery and orthopaedic surgery.
Erganeo wanted to leverage this innovation by filing and managing a patent in 2020, then subjecting the project to DeepTech maturing over nearly three years in order to scale the product up to the industrial development stage. “Erganeo’s role in leveraging this technology was key – it involved custom support right from the start of the project up to the transfer stage. A perfect example of how a SATT (technology transfer acceleration company) can contribute to leveraging the benefits of innovation, working alongside the team of researchers whose remarkable efforts have enabled us to envisage the industrial leveraging of a new innovative solution on the medical market”, says Naceur Tounekti, CEO of Erganeo.
This impetus continued with the birth of start-up Pegmatiss Biotech in October 2023. It was co-founded by Prof Didier Lutomski, Dr Tewfik Kadri and Ikram Mesmoudi, three specialists in tissue engineering, with a focus on biomaterials in particular. Pegmatiss Biotech and Erganeo then signed an exclusive operating licence on 10 December 2024 enabling the start-up to finalise a proof of concept in early 2025, before entering the preclinical and clinical phases, with market launch planned for 2029. The first industrial partners have already shown interest in developing and distributing this solution, signalling healthy prospects for the years ahead.
*Université Paris Nord, CNRS, ministère des Armées, Université Paris Cité, OST Développement