Closing a wound after surgery is far more complicated than just gluing all the leftover pieces back together. But now European doctors have a new tool for certain types of surgeries – a surgical glue developed by a Pittsburgh company.
Cohera Medical's product, TissueGlu, is an adhesive for procedures like tummy tucks, which involve lifting up a large flap of skin. Now, most people who have the surgery face the prospect of fluids building up under their skin. But using TissueGlu to replace the skin reduces this accumulation and might allow patients to return to their normal lives more quickly.
Cohera's president and CEO, Patrick Daly, says TissueGlu has potential for use on other surgeries that involve removing flaps of tissue, but the company wants doctors to discover when it works best.
This month TissueGlu was awarded a CE mark designation, which means it's been approved for use in the European Union. Daly says this is an exciting development because the CE mark is respected around the world. German doctors are especially picky about the products they use. “It's a very difficult market to crack,” Daly says.
TissueGlu became available for sale in European Union nations last week. Cohera is also seeking product approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and hopes to submit paperwork to the federal agency this fall.
Source: Patrick Daly, Cohera Medical
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen
