Public Funding for Polynerve Ltd

Polynerve is a spin out of the University of Manchester's (UoMs) Advanced Materials in Medicine activity, pioneering ground-breaking development of Peripheral Nerve Injury Repair Device - a synthetic polymer nerve conduit for peripheral nerve repair. Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) is a common and functionally devastating condition that has significant social health and cost implications. Predominantly associated with traumatic limb injuries, PNIs typically involve either the laceration or crushing of nerves. PNIs with no gap between damaged nerves will be sutured as a primary repair option. PNIs with gaps between nerve stumps cannot be opposed for suturing, and result in very poor patient outcomes. Autografting, the current gold standard, is time-consuming with long surgical preparation time, and also faces difficulties as it creates a second surgical site, sensory deficit at the donor site, possible neuroma formation (a condition associated with the disorganised growth and generation of hypersensitive nerve tissue causing neuroma-related neuropathic pain) and has limited availability. Despite advances in nerve gap microsurgical repair, existing solutions render healing slow and incomplete, with lasting permanent disability remaining an issue. Polynerve, in collaboration with the UoM seeks to further the technical development of its novel, bioengineered PNI surgical repair device. Uniquely, Polynerve aims to improve the rate and success of healing by benefitting from advanced knowledge of the molecular processes controlling nerve regeneration.