Healionics Corporation has announced via press release that it has been awarded a US$1.25 million Small Business Innovation Research grant by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), in order to support the commercialisation of its STARgraft vascular graft. This grant was awarded under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Commercialisation Readiness Pilot Program, which provides additional technical assistance and late-stage research and development support that is not typically covered within small business awards to help products get to market.
According to Healionics, over 550,000 people in the USA suffer from kidney failure and require frequent dialysis. Its press release stated that the current methods of creating and maintaining regular bloodstream access for dialysis “are risky, unreliable and costly, driving a significant portion of the US$50 billion the USA spends each year to treat kidney failure”. A vascular graft, they add, is often implanted to create an access site with sufficient flow rate for dialysis, but existing grafts frequently fail due to occlusion and/or infection. Healionics’ STARgraft vascular graft, which it has based on proprietary synthetic biomaterial technology, is, the company adds, designed to resist both problems.
Commenting on this recent grant, Mike Connolly, Healionics’ chief executive officer (CEO) stated: “We appreciate NHLBI’s recognition of STARgraft’s potential to provide more reliable vascular access for dialysis patients. These funds will help us complete testing, pursue regulatory clearance, and prepare for market launch.”
