September 20, 2010 - BioSurfaces, Inc. was recently awarded a one year, Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (1R43DK084591-01A1).  This Phase I grant, with a total award amount of $111,079, is focused on developing a first of its kind artificial hemodialysis access graft using our proprietary technology that would significantly reduce infection, clotting and unregulated cellular growth (BioAccess).

Current gold standards for hemodialysis access, radial cephalic vein fistulas and autogenous saphenous veins, have significant problems associated with their use.  Many patients do not have a healthy vein to spare due to disease progression or prior/future use for a different surgical procedure (i.e. for a distal or coronary bypass).  These surgical procedures also require greater time than a prosthetic graft implant due to vein harvesting.  Synthetic grafts comprised of ePTFE or polyurethane (PU), used as a substitute for veins, require a longer time to heal (6 weeks to 6 months for fistulas) hence failing to treat increasing number of patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) who need instant access.  Additionally, these grafts have poor primary patency rates, with only 20% patent after 2 years.  Thus, there is a need to develop an off-the shelf prosthetic graft that would give comparable or higher patency to autologous grafts or fistulas, have infection and thrombus-resistance and most importantly, provide instant access.

The principal investigator in charge of this program is Mr. Saif G. Pathan, Senior Research Associate at BioSurfaces, Inc. For questions or inquiries, please contact Mr. Pathan at: spathan_biosurfaces@verizon.net.

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