Pre-clinical assessment of small diameter conduit made from nanocomposite polymer for coronary artery bypass graft application. (360G-Wellcome-088037_Z_08_Z)

We have developed a small diameter coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) which mimics the properties of native human artery and addresses an unmet clinical need in CABG surgery. Current synthetic grafts are largely based on PTFE or Dacron which perform adequately as large calibre such as aortic bypass grafts, but are not suitable for CABG procedures due to the small diameter of the coronary arteries and low blood flow rates where high occlusion rates are associated with thrombosis and intimal hyperplasia. The high occlusion rates are due to PTFE and Dacron possessing thrombogenic surfaces and being non- compliant. These negative characteristics are less of an issue in large diameter grafts, due to high blood flow rate. Patients who do not have viable autologous vessels, due to vascular disease or because they have undergone previous harvesting procedures, are faced with the possibility of no treatment being available resulting in poor quality of life and ultimately heart failure. There is a desperate clinical need for a synthetic graft that mimics the properties of a native artery at small diameters and is widely available. Having developed and characterised the polymer, performed extensive in vitro and preliminary in vivo tests on the extruded small diameter bypass graft, we are now seeking funding for a pre-clinical study performed to full GLP to assess the efficacy of the graft before taking it to clinical trials in man.