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Anal Fistula Treatment

Project description

A novel medical device for treating anal fistulas

Glands within the anus may get clogged and infected, leading to abscess formation, which develops into a fistula. Anal fistulas are painful, they swell, and patients often have to wear pads to control leakage. The gold standard treatment of an anal fistula is surgery, but it is associated with poor outcomes and the need for repeated procedures. After close collaboration with experts, the EU-funded BioHealx project has developed a novel medical device for healing anal fistulas. It is a single-use device that has demonstrated success in preclinical models and will be tested in clinical studies prior to its commercialisation.

Objective

Signum Surgical Ltd. is a medical device company developing a solution to anal fistula disease. Anal fistulas are a common rectal disease affecting 2 out of every 10,000 people globally. An anal fistula is an artificial tunnel that, in the majority of cases, develops from an infection that begins within a blocked anal gland. If the infection cannot be cleared from the anal gland an abscess forms and the infection burrows though muscles in the rectum and exits externally at the buttocks. Patients endure a poor quality of life, experiencing pain associated with the tract and related abscesses and suffering faecal, pus and blood discharge from the fistula tract. Many patients must wear pads to control leakage, and those who seek treatment face poor surgical outcomes.
There is currently no gold standard treatment for anal fistula treatment, which has not changed significantly in over 2,500 years when Hippocrates described using horse hair and silk to drain the fistula tracts. Surgeons are frustrated with the commercially available treatment options which either result in inadequate healing of the initial condition, introduce incontinence as a consequence of surgical treatment, or result in repeat procedures and additional cost to health care system.
Through close collaboration with expert colorectal surgeons, Signum Surgical has developed the BioHealx device - an intuitive novel single use technology which improves upon current state of the art devices and surgical procedures to meet all identified critical clinical requirements to reliably heal anal fistulas. During this H2020 project, the company seek to demonstrate the technology in man to enable product launch and growth of sales in the U.S. and Europe.

Call for proposal

H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Sub call

H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-2

Funding Scheme

SME - SME instrument

Coordinator

SIGNUM SURGICAL LIMITED
Net EU contribution
€ 2 323 412,00
Address
NEW DOCKS, THE DOCKS
H91NNY6 GALWAY
Ireland

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Ireland Northern and Western West
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost
€ 3 319 161,25