Under terms of the agreement, the company will acquire the right to develop, manufacture and market products and processes derived from Trophic’s patent, which relates to solutions containing purified antimicrobial polypeptides and cell surface receptor binding proteins for use for the storage and preservation of internal organs prior to transplant.
The agreement gives CryoLife the exclusive right to determine if a commercial product can be developed using the processes covered by the patent for a period of one year, which may be extended for an additional ninety days. Trophic Solutions will undertake, at CryoLife’s expense, an additional animal study to show the efficacy of the processes covered by the patent on ‘at risk’ kidneys.
Steven Anderson, president and CEO of CryoLife, said: “The ability to preserve kidneys in a viable state for up to six days, rather than the current limit of three days would be a significant advancement. This could have a positive impact on the number of kidneys that are available for transplant, not only in the US, but worldwide.”