Gecko Biomedical (“Gecko”) has been granted a total of €6 million in funding under the Investments for the Future program (PIA) for its project proposal entitled “PIAVE” [Projets Industriels d’Avenir (Promising Industrial Projects)], which is piloted by the General Secretariate for Investment (SGPI) and operated by Bpifrance. This funding is a contribution towards the industrialization and development of innovative solutions in the area of tissue reconstruction, and the peripheral nerve in particular.
Gecko is a medical device company developing an exclusive platform of polymers allowing for tissue reconstruction. These synthetic polymers, which are biocompatible, bioresorbable, and activated by a specific type of light, can be applied onto internal tissues during surgical procedures (acting like an adhesive, a barrier or a filler product, depending on the type of surgery). They are also 3D-printable, allowing for the production of flexible, bioresorbable and very high-resolution implants.
This funding will provide support for the industrialization of Gecko’s polymers platform, as well as for the development of a new, innovative program that will enable the reconstruction of peripheral nerves, without sutures, using 3D-printed micro-conducts secured by one of the company’s exclusive adhesives.
A 1,150 m2 manufacturing site, powered by 100% green electricity, is currently under construction in Roncq (in the Hauts-de-France Region) and will feature four clean rooms (totalling 300 m2) and an analytical laboratory extending over 140 m2.
Christophe Bancel, CEO of Gecko Biomedical, said: “This funding will allow us to speed up our industrialization process and equip ourselves with a globally unique manufacturing site. Cutting-edge processes will be performed on this site to produce all our liquid polymers in individual, sterile conditions, ready for use by surgeons. We also intend to speed up a second phase in our strategy through the industrial and clinical development of our 3D printing platform for flexible, bioresorbable and high-resolution implants, by leveraging our polymers as a biomedical resin, as well as by optimising state-of-the-art 3D printing techniques”.
Marie Zwarg, the Area Leader for Healthcare within the management team for Bpifrance’s Industrial Sectors, added that: “Bpifrance has supported Gecko Biomedical since its creation. We are delighted to contribute to furthering the development of its top-level technological platform with multiple applications, while also contributing to its industrialization in France”
