A key patent protecting Neotherix' bioresorbable tissue regeneration scaffold technology has recently been granted in Japan. Japanese patent JP 5436205 was issued on 5 March 2014 and is licensed to Neotherix by Smith & Nephew PLC for a wide range of soft tissue repair, dental and surgical applications. The patent describes scaffolds (including those made by electrospinning) that can be used as medical devices for guided tissue regeneration and repair, in particular bioresorbable scaffolds where the fibre diameter has been optimised for colonisation by cells involved in wound repair. This brings the total number of granted patents in this family to four: South Africa (ZA 200809489), United States (US 8338402), Australia (AU 2007251370) and Japan. Applications are still being pursued in other regions including Europe. |