Sanofi expands biosurgery presence with Pluromed acquisition

Sanofi is to acquire US medical device company Pluromed for an undisclosed amount in a deal that will expand its presence in the biosurgery market.

Massachusetts-based Pluromed markets an FDA approved and CE marked gel called LeGoo that provides temporary blood vessel occlusion during surgery, which Sanofi will now commercialise.

“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.”

Pluromed also has a proprietary polymer technology, called  Rapid  Transition Polymers (RTP), which uses injectable plugs to improve the safety, efficacy and economics of medical interventions.

"The synergies between our companies were clear from the beginning,”  said Pluromed's CEO Jean-Marie Vogel. “We are confident that Sanofi has the  expertise and resources necessary to bring LeGoo to market and drive adoption."

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.

This allows surgeons to temporarily control bleeding without clamps or snares, which can injure delicate blood vessels. The plug then dissolves rapidly via cooling or spontaneously after several  minutes.

Sanofi's Biosurgery business unit currently markets products for osteoarthritis relief, adhesion prevention, cartilage repair, and severe burn treatment.

The company is also working on MACI (Matrix-induced Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation), a cell-based treatment for articular cartilage defects that is in phase III clinical trials.