Strong patent portfolio wins biotech Orthocell a partnership with top health company
02 February 2017
A strong patent portfolio helped Australian biotech Orthocell secure a collaboration with one of the world’s largest orthopaedic therapy companies for a major trial of its unique stem cell treatment to regenerate damaged tendons and ligaments.
“The IP portfolio and the fact that we have patents approved in the US formed a key foundation in their interest in our company,” Orthocell Managing Director Paul Anderson says.
DePuys Synthes Products, part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies, and Orthocell agreed to collaborate on a major, multi-centre trial of Orthocell’s Ortho-ATI therapy, a novel, non-surgical treatment for chronic tendon injuries resistant to usual therapies.
“We were able to lay out a complete IP program which has been directed and advised by Griffith Hack,” Paul says. “Without that, the potential is that the deal would not have been done.”
Griffith Hack has been working with Orthocell since 2006 when the company was formed to acquire and commercialise regenerative cellular therapies and collagen-based medical devices developed at the University of Western Australia.
The company’s Ortho-ATI and Ortho-ACI products, aimed at treating tendon and cartilage injuries resistant to treatment, and its CelGro collagen scaffold to help tissue reconstruction and repair, are increasingly being used by patients around the world.
“We were able to lay out a complete IP program which has been directed and advised by Griffith Hack,” Paul says. “Without that, the potential is that the deal would not have been done.”
Paul says Griffith Hack has helped Orthocell turn the IP behind its unique therapies into a suite of international patents that have set the company up for broader global development.
“The services Griffith Hack has provided have been across all levels - from the construction of the patents to the filing strategy to the nuances around our claims. Their work is not just the mechanics around patents but also being creative around how we can get the most out of them,” he says.
“But most importantly, the relationship we have with the patent attorneys and their understanding of our technology and processes gives greater depth and contribution to our IP strategy.”
Griffith Hack Principal Stuart Boyer says Orthocell’s partnership with DePuys Synthes is an exciting development for the company and reinforces the importance for all companies to ensure their IP is protected.
“IP has value. Whether it’s value in dollar terms or value in attracting larger companies to partner with you, IP is worth protecting.”
“The most important aspect of the relationship between Griffith Hack and Orthocell is ‘trust’. By allowing us to enter their world and understand their business goals we have been able to better advise and better anticipate what IP they needed to protect or even develop. Also what to protect formally and what to hold in reserve and proprietary information.”
