PROVIDENCE – Audax Medical Inc., a biotech firm based in Littleton, Mass., has obtained an exclusive license from Brown University for TBL, a nonmetallic bone-healing liquid that can be injected into broken bones with a syringe, Brown spokesman David Orenstein said.
The material, co-developed by Brown University engineering professor Thomas Webster, is still in its early stages of development. Audax has branded the technology as Arxis, and sees potential in its use to repair broken veterbrae.
Excitement about the material is based in part because it moves away from the use of metals, which are not a natural part of the body and can have problems interacting with surrounding tissue, according to Webster.
TBL is an entirely new material, co-developed by Webster with longtime colleague, chemist Hicham Fenniri at the University of Alberta, according to Orenstein. Fenniri synthesized the molecules, while Webster has focused his work on TBL’s viability for medical use.
At room temperature, the aggregate form of TBL is a liquid, but it solidifies at body temperature. As the molecules of the material come together, they do so in a ladder-shaped arrangement similar to DNA, making it easy to integrate with bone tissue, according to Orenstein.
