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Maarten van der ZandenOrthopedic startup ATRO Medical enters a partnership together with the Dutch Arthritis Society for further development of the artificial meniscus. The Dutch startup works on a meniscus prosthesis for people with knee arthritis. The Dutch Arthritis Society supports these developments and shares its experience as patient expert in the field of arthritis.
10 years ago, the Dutch Arthritis Society has invested in new materials for the research done by Radboud University Medical Center. Which changed the positioning of the health fund together with diverse universities and royal DSM to the upfront of new approach of Polycarbonate Urethan. Which the startup ATRO Medical originated in 2017, located on the Novio Tech campus in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. From there on out the accumulated scientifical knowledge was further developed into an applicable prothesis.
Jan Hunik, CEO of ATRO Medical: ‘’ Since 2019 the meniscus prosthesis has been used in clinical study with the first patients. The second clinical trial starts in 2021 with a couple of Dutch hospitals. The trials must lead to CE marking of the unique prosthesis especially due to the knowledge provided by Dutch Arthritis Society, which makes this innovation available for European patients.’’
The artificial meniscus prosthesis is meant for patients with knee arthritis. With many of these patients their meniscus was partially removed, or they’re experiencing chronic pain due to knee wear. The meniscus prosthesis offers this group of patients an alternative for the current policies such as pain medication, physiotherapy and the wait to being considered for a total knee replacement.
Corné Baatenburg de Jong of The Dutch Arthritis Society explains: ‘’It is nice to see that a development throughout the years has eventually been integrated by a team such the one of ATRO Medical and turned it into a new procedure for the patient. They work hard to improve the quality of knee arthritis patients with the use of the meniscus prosthesis. During the implementation, we as organization can support this. We know the way through the path. And thanks to the big patient participation at The Dutch Arthritis Society, we can make sure that their voices are heard. This guarantees that the development fits the patients’ expectations.
ATRO Medical is a spin-off of DSM & Radboud University Medical Center with offices in Nijmegen & Uden (NL). The startup builds further on knowledge from the public-privates collaboration BioMedical Materials (BMM), started in 2010 as a consortium of universities and companies with financial support of the Dutch government. The collaboration between clinical, biomechanical & polymer-experts which led to development of the Meniscus Prosthesis and establishment of ATRO Medical in 2016. The first clinical study started in 2019.
As Chief Implementations Officer, Maarten navigates the route to patients and financial resources.
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