Gecko Biomedical said today that it won a French grant worth roughly $7 million has (€6 million) for the tissue reconstruction technology it’s developing.
Paris-based Gecko said it plans to use the grant to commercialize its portfolio of synthetic light-activated polymers, which are designed to be biocompatible and bioresorbable and act as an adhesive, barrier or filler during surgeries. The cash will also go toward a program to reconstruct peripheral nerves without sutures. Gecko also said it’s building a 12,378-square-foot (1,150 m2) manufacturing site in Roncq, France.
“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 optimizing state-of-the-art 3D printing techniques,” CEO Christophe Bancel said in prepared remarks.
“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,” added Bpifrance healthcare leader Marie Zwarg.
($1 = €0.807651)
