Renovos wins Innovate UK’s Biomedical Catalyst funding!

Injectable Renovite gel for localised tissue regeneration

Renovos has been awarded a £692,472 Biomedical Catalyst grant from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency*. Innovate UK funds businesses to accelerate promising innovations towards commercially successful products, in specific areas of interest that promote economic growth.

Musculoskeletal conditions are the leading contributor to disability worldwide, with the most common and disabling conditions such as arthritis, back and neck pain, fractures and injuries. Current bone healing agents are poorly localised and rely on very high doses which have been associated with some dangerous side effects such as excess bone growth outside of the skeleton, inflammation leading to tissue swelling and sometimes nerve damage when used in the spine.

Renovos provides a novel solution that can address the current limitations of localising bone agents/biologic factors at the site of repair, improving their safety and efficacy. RENOVITE® is injectable and enables the use of bone-healing agents in a more precise, localised manner, and – thanks to strong retention – at a significantly reduced dose. Renovos’ compelling pre-clinical data shows that these agents are only released upon contact with regenerating cells, so they can enhance healing in a more targeted manner to improve outcomes with greater safety, efficacy and at a lower cost. The project “RENOVITE® – regenerative nanoclay for orthobiologic applications” will deliver further pre-clinical development in models aligned with clinical applications and accelerate the regulatory path.

Agnieszka Janeczek, CEO of Renovos Biologics said: “We are thrilled that our RENOVITE® nanoclay gel technology has once again been recognised by the Innovate UK experts. As pioneers of nanoclay gels for tissue regeneration, we are excited about this funding and the progress in development it will allow us to achieve to get closer to the clinic.”

Renovos ultimately anticipates its products based on the RENOVITE® platform will provide novel solutions for bone fusion procedures and difficult to treat fractures, benefiting the increasingly active younger demographics, requiring tissue regeneration, as well as the progressively ageing population.

If you are interested in supporting Renovos’ vision, please get in touch. 

 

* Innovate UK drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas. We connect businesses to the partners, customers and investors that can help them turn ideas into commercially successful products and services and business growth. We fund business and research collaborations to accelerate innovation and drive business investment into R&D. Our support is available to businesses across all economic sectors, value chains and UK regions. Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation. For more information visit www.innovateuk.ukri.org

Nanoclays and regenerative medicine: a journey towards the clinic

Renovite cells

What role could clay play in the biomedical field and why is Renovos Biologics focussing on this industrial-type material for cutting edge regenerative medicine technologies? It is an interesting question, after all, clays are mainly used for making things like paint or cosmetic formulations. And those applications seem far removed from the highly regulated world of medical products and devices.

Before shedding light on the surprising promise of nanoclay, let me tell you a bit of my background and my involvement in Renovos.

I am a materials scientist. I always envisioned myself diving into those fundamental questions that only research can approach. That vision for exploration and inquiry later evolved into the application of new biomedical materials to improve quality of life. As a basic materials scientist with an interest in biomedicine, I could not help but wonder how to get the best of both worlds.

And that is why I became involved with Renovos, where bringing my experience with cells and novel biomaterials to target tissue regeneration would have a translational value and make a difference to people’s lives.

At Renovos, we are developing a product portfolio based on a synthetic nanoclay gel platform, Renovite®. Renovite® gels can localise and retain biologics at ultra-low doses to promote tissue regeneration. We discovered that the physicochemical properties of nanoclays are extremely well-suited and sought for in biomaterials (you can learn more about it from our previous post by Allison and our technology site). Nanoclay particles spontaneously form a gel in the body that binds biological molecules and provides a scaffolding for cell growth. These exciting properties open up a wide range of regenerative medicine applications encompassing drug-delivery, stem-cell therapy, wound repair and infection control!

Renovite diagram

Let me explain the example of bone growth and repair. Now here come a couple of questions that I had before working with nanoclays:

1) Why is nanoclay a good candidate for tissue regeneration?

2) How does nanoclay offer an advantage when combined with biological molecules?

To answer the first question, the high affinity of nanoclay particles for proteins is key. When injected into the body, nanoclay particles form a gel network that binds proteins from the blood – a bit like in a blood clot. This protein-rich nanoclay network provides a matrix for cells to grow into and remodel into new tissue. Because Renovite® nanoclay is biocompatible, specialised cells can safely degrade the gel over time as new tissue forms.

This links quite well with the second question. Again, the advantage lies in the ability for nanoclays to bind proteins. Besides, the gels retain the biologics until they have degraded. Therefore, Renovite® nanoclay gels are able to safely localise potent biological molecules that stimulate bone formation. This reduces the side-effects of these molecules outside the gel whilst simultaneously enhancing their activity within the gel, allowing for ultra-low doses. It all implies that we can use Renovite® nanoclay gels in combination with these biologics to safely and reliably repair bone.

This is where my job comes in. I verify that our products are safe and effective by validating this technology in various assays and models. Have a look at Renovite® loaded with a biomolecule and ready for addition to cells in culture!

Renovite cells

Ultimately, we want to reach those who may benefit the most. For instance, patients suffering from musculoskeletal conditions or microbial infections in orthopaedics impairing tissue repair.

Although the journey to the clinic is not an easy ride, it is certainly an exciting one! And anything that serves to improve the treatment of health conditions sounds worthwhile to me!

Juan at Renovos

By Juan Aviles Milan