Gelatin, hyaluronic acid, collagen, chitosan, alginate. Natural materials, some of them already part of the body's own surroundings. BioMed Elements in Nijmegen turns these biopolymers into biomaterials for wound care, medical aesthetics, orthopaedics, tissue engineering and cosmetics, in forms such as sponges, sheets, powders, sprays and gels.
“Tuning materials, enhancing lives.”
BioMed Elements
Tuning the material
Its core skill is changing the structure of the biopolymer network, so that a material behaves exactly as a product needs. How long it takes to break down, or how much fluid it can absorb, can be set. Because the materials are biocompatible and degradable, the body breaks them down naturally, without leaving traces that could cause an infection or other reactions.
Particles of one size
With its patented BioMed Core Technology, the company makes uniform, spherical particles smaller than a thousandth of a millimetre from various biopolymers, and it can choose their size. Every batch is the same, and the process scales from the lab to commercial quantities. Particles like these are promising as carriers for cells and tissue, and for releasing a medicine slowly, right where it is needed.
Building for others too
BioMed also looks beyond its own products. In 2022 it received a European REACT grant to build a shared facility for medtech companies in Nijmegen: six laboratories and five cleanrooms that meet European and American standards. And it leads BioNanoGel, a Dutch-German Interreg project with partners including Radboudumc and the University Hospital Münster, to develop better hydrogels for chronic sinusitis, bladder pain syndrome and stress incontinence.
From Nijmegen to Milwaukee
Besides its home on the Energieweg in Nijmegen, BioMed has an office in Milwaukee. Its sister company BioMed ENT brings products for ear, nose and throat care to the market, such as EpiPatch, MyringoPatch, SeptoPatch and Epi-Stop Nasal Gel, and is ISO 13485 certified.
Biomed ElementsBiopolymer materials for wound care, orthopedics and aesthetics.
