bioMD to pay $650k for half of Celxcel

Biomedical device company bioMD has reached an agreement to acquire a 50 per cent stake in Celxcel, an Australian private unlisted company formed in 2001 to commercialise the use of kangaroo tissue as a suitable biological tissue implant (bioimplant) for humans.
The investment will cost $650,000 and provide working capital to Celxcel as part of bioMD's strategy to allocate funding towards opportunities in leading and cutting edge technologies within the biotechnology and life science markets.
According to bioMD, results from animal studies so far have provided evidence to suggest that Kangaroo tissue is less susceptible to calcification than other biological tissues (such as bovine and porcine tissue) that is currently used for human implantation.
Celxcel holds a granted Australian patent for the technology and has an additional patent application in place that covers the latest claims made for the technology. This application will proceed to international registration by the end of 2005.
The research program is now six years old and is expected to be completed by the end of 2006.
The total global market size for bioimplants in areas where the Celxcel technology could potentially be used is in excess of $US700 million annually, according to bioMD.