Sanofi and Pluromed Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement under which Sanofi is to acquire Massachusetts based Pluromed Inc., a medical device company. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.
Pluromed has developed a proprietary polymer technology, called Rapid Transition Polymers (RTP), pioneering the use of injectable plugs to improve the safety, efficacy and economics of medical interventions. Sanofi will commercialize Pluromed’s LeGoo, a highly innovative FDA approved and CE marked gel for temporary endovascular occlusion of blood vessels during surgical procedures.
“The acquisition of Pluromed underscores Sanofi’s commitment to strengthen its Biosurgery portfolio,” said Alison Lawton, senior vice president and general manager, Sanofi Biosurgery. “LeGoo is a breakthrough technology with the potential to change the paradigm of vascular and cardiovascular surgical procedures, by providing fast, temporary control of blood flow while avoiding vessel trauma associated with standard of care.”
"The synergies between our companies were clear from the beginning,” said Jean-Marie Vogel, CEO of Pluromed, Inc. “We are confident that Sanofi has the expertise and resources necessary to bring LeGoo to market and drive adoption."
“LeGoo represents a major advancement in surgical technology because of its ability to control bleeding without clamps or snares that can injure delicate blood vessels,” said Dr William E Cohn, director, Minimally invasive Surgical Technology at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston and a member of Pluromed’s Board of Directors. “This breakthrough gives surgeons a way to temporarily stop blood flow into the surgical field which is imperative for clear visualization and accurate placement of sutures. I believe this technology will be widely adopted in cardiovascular surgery and perhaps in other fields in the future.”
This acquisition reflects Sanofi’s commitment to bring innovative solutions designed to ease surgical procedures and improve patient outcomes.
LeGoo is a thermo-sensitive biocompatible and non-toxic liquid gel that forms a plug when injected into a blood vessel to temporarily stop blood flow. The plug dissolves rapidly via cooling or spontaneously after several minutes. Once dissolved, the plug cannot reform because the concentration is too low. In a prospective, randomized study, LeGoo has been shown to provide better operating conditions than conventional occlusion techniques, by limiting blood flow into a surgical field without causing damage to the vessels. The study also showed a reduction in the time required to perform an anastomosis for beating heart surgery when using LeGoo. Time is critical to patient outcomes in these types of surgical interventions.
Sanofi Biosurgery is a global strategic business unit of Sanofi. It develops and markets innovative, biologically based products for osteoarthritis relief, adhesion prevention, cartilage repair, and severe burn treatment.
Sanofi, a global and diversified healthcare leader, discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions focused on patients’ needs. Sanofi has core strengths in the field of healthcare with seven growth platforms: diabetes solutions, human vaccines, innovative drugs, consumer healthcare, emerging markets, animal health and the new Genzyme.