Chameleon BioSurfaces does polymer coatings for drugs stents

The company claims its polymer coatings have exceptionally high adhesion properties and proven drug loading and elution capabilities. The polymers can be precisely deposited on medical grade stainless steel and other materials, allowing multiple layers of different polymers, each imparting a specific property, to be built up.

For drug delivery applications, Chameleon is tailoring the polymers for use with cationic, anionic and neutral drugs. The company is currently working with three medical device manufacturers to evaluate its materials.

Chameleon aims to be cash neutral from 2008. It is seeking a total equity investment of £1.5 million over two years, with £500,000 required now to achieve the first milestone of demonstrating better biocompatibility than the current generation of polymers

It estimates the global market for drug eluting stents to be worth $5.2 billion, and is growing at 15 per cent per annum. Stents are coated with drugs to prevent restensosis, which can block arteries after bypass surgery.

Chris Pickett, one of the founding scientists and director of research at Chameleon, recently took up a chair in the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of East Anglia. He was previously Associate Head of the Biological Chemistry Department at the John Innes Centre.