Business Week: March 30, 1998
Developments to Watch
IN SURGERY, A LITTLE DAB'LL GLUE YA
EVEN THE MOST SKILLED OF SURGEONS dread the leaks that can develop around incisions after patients have been stitched up with sutures or surgical staples. Focal Inc. in Lexington, Mass., is proposing to close them up with a dab of glue. Focal's synthetic surgical sealant expands and contracts with the tissue it adheres to and takes about a year for the body to absorb. The sealant, based on patented chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, is a clear gel with the consistency of syrup. After putting in staples or sutures, surgeons drip the sealant along the incision, then harden it with a blast of special-wavelength light (photo).
''If we can seal air leaks, the potential for infection goes way down, and patients won't have to stay in the hospital as long,'' says Dr. Larry R. Kaiser, a professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, where clinical trials are being conducted. Focal's product has been approved for use in lung surgeries in Europe, and Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay Focal $18 million for marketing rights to the sealant outside the U.S. The glue ''will be expensive,'' says David M. Clapper, Focal's president and chief executive. ''But most people spend $1,000 and up each day they are in the hospital.''
EDITED BY CATHERINE ARNST
Paul C. Judge
Copyright 1998 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Any use is subject to (1) terms and conditions of this service and (2) rules stated under ''Read This First'' in the ''About Business Week'' area.
Transmitted: 03/22/98 23:41 (B3571124) |
