Secant Medical Expands Manufacturing Capability

Secant Medical is investing in its future.

The company has added a 40,000-square-foot facility in Quakertown, Pa., to its manufacturing operations. The new facility is just six miles from the firm’s headquarters in Perkasie, Pa.

Secant executives said the new facility was added to support current and future business growth in tissue engineering and transcatheter technologies. They predict the total market for tissue engineering—including heart valve repair and replacement; musculoskeletal bone and ligament repair and replacement; and urologic bladder slings—will surpass $11.5 billion by 2016.

“We are monitoring the healthy market growth of transcatheter technology for minimally invasive surgical procedures, which is driving an increased need for biomedical textiles,” said Karen West, general manager of the company’s Advanced Technology and Materials Group. “While we see an upward trend in the market, we are well aware of the challenges that device manufacturers face from healthcare reform and other events. We must carefully balance these market dynamics in our long term planning, particularly as it pertains to our clients’ needs.”

And those needs most likely will include bone regeneration and ligament repair, as an aging world population seeks relief from such conditions as osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease. Researchers are developing ways to regenerate bone and cartilage using stem cells and a protein called NELL 1.

Bone Biologics Inc. of Thousand Oaks, Calif., received a patent in March for a process that uses the NELL 1 protein to form cartilage. The technology is subject to review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; it has not been approved for use in humans.

Last fall, researchers at the University of Michigan announced that they had grown and repaired knee ligaments in rats from bone marrow stem cells harvested from the rats’ own bones. The researchers, according to published reports, tissue-engineered an advanced graft that includes an elastic ligament section in the center to accommodate joint motion and bone portions on the ends for more effective integration and attachment to the native bone of the injured knee.

Besides adding to the company’s manufacturing capabilities, Secant executives added to the company’s management team (see People News, page 72) and redesigned the firm’s methodology for custom-developing and making medical device products. They named the redesigned methodology the Integrated Product Development Process.

“The resulting integrated process better leverages our continuum of services at every stage of the client’s development path,” West explained. “It’s a smarter, more streamlined approach to apply the quality, collaboration, and scientific support we bring to the table.”

Steve Chadwick, Secant’s president and CEO, said the revamped product development process allows the company to remain closely aligned with clients’ development requirements, from concept to commercialization.

Secant Medical provides design, development and custom manufacturing services for biomedical textiles.