First patient treated with OrthoXel Apex Tibial Nail

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​L-R Prof James Harty Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Pat O’Connor CEO, Prof Hannah Dailey Chief Scientific Officer, Charles Daly Chief Technical Officer.

OrthoXel, a Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) spin out company, is an innovative orthopaedic trauma company, pioneering the use of enhanced fracture fixation to stimulate callus formation with the goal to reduce healing time, based in the Rubicon Centre, CIT.

In early March OrthoXel announced the world’s first successful implant of their Apex Tibial Nailing System. The procedure was successfully completed by Professor James Harty, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Head of the Department of Orthopaedics, Cork University Hospital with his surgical tea at the CUH Trauma Centre. This was following United States FDA 510k clearance and European CE mark approval for the OrthoXel product.

OrthoXel has been working closely with the Health Research Board Clinical Research Facility, Cork (CRF-C) a collaboration with University College Cork, to initiate the clinical trials at Cork University Hospital. An additional Irish hospital is to be added to the trial later this year.   A similar clinical trial is about to be initiated on the East Coast of United States with OrthoXel in advanced discussions with a number of high profile Orthopaedic Trauma Centres.

In the past 9 months OrthoXel has doubled in size and the exciting milestone of the world’s first surgical implantation has been reached following investment of almost €3m to get to this point. OrthoXel is working both to identify commercial partners and to establish a company base in the USA.  Recently, the senior management team attended The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting in New Orleans, USA to showcase the Apex Tibial Nailing System and to start to secure commercial and clinical partners for the United States.

Founded in 2014, and partially funded under the Enterprise Ireland, High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) fund, OrthoXel is the only orthopaedic trauma company focused exclusively on improving patient outcomes through enhanced fixation to stimulate callus formation, with the aim of reducing healing time when the OrthoXel Apex Intramedullary Nailing Systems are implanted.

For more information about the Apex Tibial Nailing System and OrthoXel visit: www.orthoxel.net/product

Luxcel Biosciences acquired by Agilent Technologies

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In January 2018, UCC with the other shareholders of Luxcel Biosciences sold their equity stake to Agilent Technologies. Luxcel spun-out of UCC with technology developed in the School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and has two licenses with UCC.

The technology focus of the company is the use of fluorescence for assay systems to measure the viability and growth of cells, pharmaceutical safety and food safety markets. Based on technology developed in UCC by Prof Dmitri Papkovsky, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Luxcel has 12 employees and is headquartered in Cork.

Through the acquisition, Luxcel will remain in Cork and form a dedicated sensor chemistries and bioassay solutions group within Agilent’s Cell Analysis Division. It will have access to Agilent’s global R&D and commercial infrastructure and is already exploring potential future collaborative links with UCC. The company has developed a variety of products and its current product range includes: MitoXpress® Xtra Oxygen Consumption Assay and its companion kits MitoXpress® Stress Test & MitoXpress® FAO Assay; pH-Xtra™ Glycolysis Assay and its companion kit pH-Xtra™ Glycolysis Stress Test and MitoXpress® Intra Intracellular Oxygen Assay.

At establishment in 2002, Luxcel took a license to UCC patented technology. Subsequent IP licenses have been put in place to allow them to take advantage of further developments in the area.