Roughly 500,000 Americans suffer nerve injuries requiring treatment each year, often from everyday accidents like cutting into an avocado pit or woodworking mishaps. Many will never regain full feeling in their fingers. A startup has developed a thick, sticky liquid that could change that, and it has begun deploying it with surgeons in the US.
French firm Tissium is working to replace or supplement medical stitches with a liquid that attaches to tissue when exposed to light. The biopolymer, made of fatty acid and glycerol—both naturally occurring in the body—acts like a splint to hold nerves in place while the tissue mends itself. It then biodegrades after the body heals, leaving nerves intact.
The Problem with Nerve Repair
Peripheral nerves form the sprawling network branching from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. When a nerve is cut—often by knives or machinery—the two ends must be held in place while the nerve slowly repairs itself. Failure leads to symptoms ranging from tingling and numbness to electrical-like stabbing pain.
Aligning severed nerves requires micro-sutures, which Tissium cofounder and deputy CEO Maria Pereira calls "a very delicate technique." She explains: "So we are trying to provide a new way and a better way for peripheral nerves to be prepared in a consistent manner, a less traumatic matter, and with better patient outcomes."
Clinical Trial Results
Tissium ran a trial with 12 patients in the US who had injured nerves in their fingers. All 12 regained the ability to feel temperature, pain, texture, and light touch—compared to a little over 80 percent with other techniques. None reported pain or device-related complications a year later. The treatment is already available for surgeons to purchase in the US.
| Metric | Tissium's Polymer | Standard Techniques |
|---|---|---|
| Patients regaining full sensation | 100% (12/12) | ~80% |
| Pain or complications at 1 year | 0% | Not specified |
"While further evidence is needed, it's exciting to see more advanced biomaterials and regenerative medical techniques at the disposal of the modern surgeon," says Simran Chana, a surgeon, materials scientist, and director of the Frontier Technologies Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Chana is not involved with Tissium's work.
Business and Funding
Tissium has raised €30 million in private investments from venture capital firms and family offices, plus €30 million in debt financing from the European Union’s lending arm, the European Investment Bank. The company will continue to manufacture its product, which received FDA marketing approval last year, in northern France.
Future Applications
The funds will also support development of the technology for other issues. Tissium expects to enroll around 200 patients in a US trial to help the body heal after hernia treatment. Surgeons currently repair hernias by pushing bulging organ or tissue back through muscle and reinforcing with stitches and mesh. Pereira, who is also chief innovation officer, notes that suture consistency can impact outcomes. Tissium's treatment can provide consistency, improving recovery.
Pereira is finalizing results of a European study testing the treatment on 78 patients undergoing hernia repair. She reports that surgeons applied Tissium's goo 100% of the time and that patients showed signs of improved quality of life—reduced pain, faster recovery, lower recurrence rate.
Tissium is also developing products for cardiovascular reconstruction, the initial application Pereira conceived while earning a PhD in bioengineering nearly 20 years ago. The company is preparing to launch a randomized pivotal trial in the US for its cardiovascular product, supported by the new funding.
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