Orthos licenses bone regeneration technology from Catalonia University

8 June 2010

Bristol-based Orthos Limited, which specialises in developing technologies to help re-grow human bones, has signed an exclusive patent license agreement with the Biomedical Engineering Research Centre (CREB) at the University of Catalonia in Spain.

 The agreement gives Orthos exclusive rights to the Spanish and European patents for a self-setting and injectable calcium phosphate foam which can be used for bone regeneration, enabling them to exploit the technology commercially.

The agreement was facilitated by Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) South West. Orthos Limited, which specialises in developing technologies to help re-grow human bones, contacted EEN to help them identify opportunities to work with universities across Europe in a bid to source new technologies.

Alan Rorke, Technical Director at Orthos based at Leigh Court in Bristol, said, “With the ongoing support of the Enterprise Europe Network and by collaborating with several major international universities, including the University of Catalonia, we can continue to focus on developing the next generation of orthobiologic devices.”

The patent agreement gives Orthos exclusive rights to exploit the university’s technology with CREB benefiting by receiving royalties on the sale of any Orthos device which uses their technology.

Orthos signed the agreement through EEN’s Partner Alert Service. This free service helps small and medium-sized companies to identify European business partners for commercial agreements, technology partnerships and European research projects.

Kenny Legg, Partnership Adviser at Enterprise Europe Network South West, said: “Orthos is a prime example of how a company can benefit from exploiting international academic research. We have strong links with universities across Europe and strive to increase collaborative research and development across all sectors by putting companies and academics in contact with each other.”