Aortyx, together with CIMNE, has been awarded a Proyecto de Colaboración Público-Privada under the project numberCPP2021-008546, funded by The Spanish Government within the Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023, en el marco del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.
Aortic dissection (AD) is the most catastrophic event that can occur in the aorta. AD, with an estimated worldwide incidence of 1/10,000 patients per year, is a result of the tearing of the inner layer of the aortic wall. The blood flow emerging through the tear causes the dissection of the inner (intima) and middle (media) layers of the aorta, through a thin layer called intimal flap (IF). AD is a very severe pathology that becomes fatal, up to 50% of the times, when the blood-filled channel silently ruptures through the outer (adventitia) aortic wall. Despite its severity, current treatments present unacceptably high mortality (up to 30%) and failure (up to 60%) rates, due to their invasiveness and/or to the lack of mechanical adaptation of the used devices to the aortic wall.
To solve this clear unmet medical need, Aortyx, a start-up emerging from the IQS School of Engineering and Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, is developing an innovative solution: an adhesive porous patch that is delivered using a minimally invasive catheter. We call it the endovascular repair patch. It mimics the artery’s mechanical properties and allows cellular regeneration. The implantable part, the patch, and its adhesive are at design freeze stage and the tests in animals have been very successful. Now, Aortyx must demonstrate the same reliability for its delivery system, which started its development later in time.
In this project, titled “SIMUPATCH – Validación in silico e in vitro de la seguridad y la eficacia de un dispositivo médico para el tratamiento de disección aórtica” both Aortyx and CIMNE will collaborate to create computational models of aortic dissections from real patients, generate benchtop models to validate these simulations and collect enough evidence to obtain clinical trials authorization by Spanish (AEMPS) and American (FDA) regulatory bodies.
