If you’re a clinician there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Kensey Nash, but an equally good chance you’ll know the company’s products. The Philadelphia based company, founded in 1984 describes itself as a Medical Device Product Developer and Manufacturer, with its primary focus now on regenerative products. The reason the name may not be familiar is that Kensey Nash develops technologies and manufactures them for other people, with 86% of its sales (of $71M last year) coming from its relationships with four companies, St Jude, Arthrex, Orthovita and Synthes.
Most famously Kensey Nash was the originator of the AngioSeal Vascular Closure Device, now marketed by St Jude Medical. The Company has an extensive range of other products which are sold through strategic partners in multiple medical markets, including the cardiology, orthopaedic, sports medicine, spine, endovascular and general surgery markets. It owns a state-0f-the-art facility in Exton, a short train ride outside Philadelphia and is showing significant signs of ambition, having recently acquired Norian (bone substitutes) from Synthes, Nerites (a bioadhesives/anti-fouling technologies company) and rights to UK company Orteq’s Actifit synthetic meniscal scaffold for arthroscopic treatment of irreparable partial meniscal tears.
Kensey Nash has announced this month that it has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The NIH has awarded the company a two-year, $1.9 million Phase II SBIR grant to further investigate the use of a bioadhesive surgical mesh for applications in tendon repair procedures. The Company will develop and evaluate the ability of its proprietary bioadhesive technology to augment standard sutured tendon repair. Ultimately, the use of a bioadhesive device for this surgical application is expected to create a stronger repair, thereby enhancing repair efficacy and improving patient outcomes.
Doug Evans, Chief Operating Officer commented about the grant; “Over the past twenty-five years Kensey Nash has developed a broad range of innovative products and technologies that have benefitted patients worldwide. This grant will allow us to explore new applications for our recently acquired adhesive technology in combination with our other extracellular matrix, collagen, and polymer based biomaterials to develop new solutions for existing medical problems.”
Source: Kensey Nash, medlatest staff
