Singapore start-up joins India's Stelis for R&D work

Bio-Scaffold International Pte Ltd (BSI), a Singapore based start-up Company, has entered into a research collaboration agreement with India's Stelis Biopharma to develop BMP and stem cell-loaded 3D printed devices for various medical applications.

The research will be jointly directed by Anand Iyer, JD, CEO, Stelis Biopharma and Margam Chandrasekaran, CEO/Chief Scientist, BSI.

Both companies will bear the cost of their contribution to the joint research activities.

"BSI and Stelis are considering to open a joint venture either in Singapore or Malaysia to take this work forward as there are interests from some investor groups for starting such a firm," Chandrasekaran told PTI.

"As such we plan to start the work as soon as possible and Stelis will be starting some preliminary studies with our current scaffold on the BMP by next month," he said.

Products from the two companies' collaboration will be used in orthopaedics, cosmetology/plastic and reconstructive surgery and dentistry.

BSI is a pioneer in the application of 3D printing technology for the development of novel, bio-compatible scaffolds.

Stelis, subsidiary of India's Strides Arcolab Limited, is a biotechnology company whose research and development efforts include the development of drug and stem cell-loaded devices for the treatment of various medical conditions.

Scientists from Stelis and BSI have developed a framework for initial research collaboration that will include working on multiple areas such as BMP-2/7 heterodimer-loaded scaffold for orthopaedic applications and BMP2/BMP7 loaded scaffolds for spinal fusion, among others.

Iyer and Chandrasekaran strongly felt that this joint collaboration would help harness the synergies of the two companies in advancing the development of novel 3D printed devices for effectively treating various conditions in the orthopaedic, orthodontic oral/ maxillofacial and plastic/ reconstructive arena, said BSI in a statement today.