Mercury Bio, (www.mercurybio.com) a Santa Fe, NM-based biotech company working in the area of drug delivery, has entered into a joint research, development, and licensing agreement with Old Bethpage, NY-based Himed (www.himed.com), a leading producer of bioceramics and biocompatible surface treatments for medical and dental implants. The two companies aim to develop a unique osteogenic material to be used in applications like bone cements, coatings for implantable devices, and many more.

Mercury Bio’s new yEV technology harnesses natural extracellular vesicles (EVs) and engineers them to carry specific RNAs and small-molecule drugs, such as the protein BMP-9, to targeted cells. These allogeneic particles, when loaded into an organic calcium phosphate (CaP)-based scaffold created by Himed, will elute at desired rates into the surrounding tissue to promote bone healing and growth.

Himed, which also announced a partnership last week with medical 3D printer manufacturer Lithoz, is looking to strategic collaborations to design new approaches to healing using calcium phosphates. CEO Dana Barnard says, “These are exciting times—this agreement marks Himed’s debut into organic materials, building on our long history of supplying top-level bioceramic materials and services to device manufacturers. Mercury Bio’s technology is completely innovative—we think this collaboration has great potential and could chart new directions in bone repair.”

Calcium phosphates, particularly hydroxyapatite (HA) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP), are natural minerals that compose about 70% of bone. While they’ve been utilized in bone repair since the 1920s, their use in implantable devices and bone putties has grown rapidly over the last few decades as a way to accelerate hard tissue healing at implantation sites. Owing largely to the world’s aging population, orthopedic surgery is now one of the fastest-growing surgical categories—thus, improving surgical outcomes and shortening recovery times is critically important for patients and their providers.

Mercury Bio’s CEO, Bruce McCormick, believes that layering these technologies will yield dramatic benefits for device implants and other bone surgeries: “Loading yEVs with BMP-9 and infusing them into bioactive coatings will provide a highly targeted, controlled release of bone morphogenic protein, which may dramatically speed up healing and reduce the risks of complications from long recoveries after surgery. We’re excited to work with a world leader in calcium phosphates to bring the potential of advanced yEV drug delivery to the orthopedic field.”