Millenium Biologix

01 Oct 1997

• By Myrna Watanabe

Biomaterials; Bone Repair. Millenium's product line consists of four major groups: an analytical kit for bone cell assays for research and clinical trials, a synthetic bone material for coating artificial joints or dental implants, a synthetic bone material that can be used as a stand-alone product or in conjunction with bone growth factors, and product which can be seeded with a patient's own bone or stem cells to grow autologous bone for grafts.

When we think of bone we sometimes think of the hard bone of a long-dead skeleton—or the big beef shinbone we give the dog for a treat. We tend to forget that bone, in life, contains living cells, and its hard matrix of hydroxyapatite undergoes constant change, or remodeling. But when bone becomes damaged by trauma, surgery or the osteoarthritis and osteoporosis common to the aging process, both we, and our physicians, would like to know that there are products in the marketplace that can repair the damage and ease our suffering.

Many companies are involved in cutting-edge research in the field of bone repair (see Exhibits 1 and 2,p. 31). Millenium...