Scientists at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine have spun out a new company in the nearby Piedmont Triad Research Park to develop and market drug-coated catheters and stents designed to prevent or treat scar tissue that can form after certain medical procedures.
The scientists have collaborated with SpringMed Group, one of the downtown Winston-Salem research park's first tenants, to form the new company -- Applied Catheter Technologies Inc.
The research behind the project comes from the medical school's Department of Urology. Some of the basic science was conducted in the research park at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The department and institute are both directed by Anthony Atala, M.D.
The first application of the technology will be a drug-coated urinary catheter to prevent a condition known as male urethral stricture, said Steve Hodges, lead researcher and an assistant professor in the Department of Urology. "But the technology has potential to be used in almost the entire body where strictures or scarring is a problem," he said.
Hodges and colleagues have already expanded applications of the technology to include devices for use in otolaryngology and other surgical fields. Applied Catheter is led by Jon Wilson, who is also managing partner at SpringMed.