MADISON, WI - (February 19, 2009)

Though increasing participation in recreational sports has paid dividends for our national fitness, it has unfortunately also resulted in more tendon injuries. Seventy-five percent of Achilles tendon ruptures, for example, occur while playing sports. Surgery is often necessary to repair ruptured tendons, but repairs can fail when sutures “pull through” the tendon instead of holding it together. Even in healthy patients, tendon surgery frequently yields unsatisfactory outcomes. Nerites Corporation was recently awarded a grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop alternative methods of tendon repair using bio-adhesive technology.

Dr. Joel Smith, an Orthopedic Surgeon and consultant to Nerites, stated: “There is significant need for improvements on current tendon repair techniques.  The technology that Nerites is developing has great potential and will represent a substantial advance in treatment using medical devices.”

“Tendon repair can be a vexing problem for orthopedic surgeons,” stated Nerites CEO Thomas Mozer.  “We hope to give them a better solution than sutures.  Our synthetic adhesives can be tailored to meet the demands of many different types of surgeries, and so we are applying them to areas where we see the greatest medical need.  We’re grateful that Dr. Smith and the NIH share our vision for innovative product development.”