Anteris Technologies Ltd (ASX:AVR) (FRA:DDF) has completed a Proof of Concept (POC) animal study testing the viability of ADAPT® treated conduits in the carotid artery, with conduits treated showing no evidence of calcification, as indicated by histopathology.
In addition, there were no visible signs of inflammation, specifically in the intimal or medial layers of the conduits and the grafts also showed the presence of a partial neo-intimal layer, likely indicating surface remodelling of the vessels.
Previous attempts by investigators to use animal vessels in this setting had failed due to heavy calcification deposits occurring, however, none were shown with the ADAPT® treated conduits.
“Validates anti-calcification properties”
Anteris chief executive officer Wayne Paterson said: “This marks a major step forward for ADAPT® treated prosthetic conduits for use in coronary by-pass (CABG) surgeries.
“The global CABG market was estimated at approximately $US500 million for 2021 with a 5.3% CAGR out to 2026 and where there are very few viable alternatives (other than harvesting a patient’s own saphenous vein) for the by-pass graft.
“Not only does this further validate ADAPT® ’s superior anti-calcification properties in highly problematic areas of surgery, it pushes Anteris closer to a viable alternative for patients of CABG surgery.”
Larger animal study planned
The study used bovine carotid and mesenteric arteries as the conduits to test the viability of Adapt treated conduits in the carotid artery (as a proxy for CABG) in sheep.
These conduits ranged from 2.5-3.8 millimetres in diameter and one 6-7 centimetre length was implanted per animal.
Based on these results, Anteris plans to start a larger animal study in Australia during 2021 implanting the conduit into the CABG position.