MEGA BIOPHARMA is a biotech company, based in three locations in France, world pioneer in tissue regeneration, focusing on skin, cartilage & bone. It offers a set of effective and safe therapeutic solutions.
After nearly 15 years of R&D, preclinical and human experiences, the company is delivering breakthrough technology BIONACRE®, giving solutions in many fields such as psoriasis, vitiligo, cartilage reconstruction, vertebroplasty, dental implantology and orthopedics.
“With our technology, we will help hundreds of millions of patients” – Joel Drai, Founder & President.
Based on the pioneering and innovative work of its researchers, doctors Georges and Serge Camprasse, this biotech uses mother-of-pearl for therapeutic applications of tissue regeneration.
“Derived from the shell of bivalve mollusks, mother-of-pearl (nacre) is an ancestral material, which appeared tens of millions of years ago, whose complex composition presents an astonishing similarity and a great complementarity with that of living tissues, in particular, human ones”, its founder Joel DRAI explains. Its remarkable repair properties have long given rise to numerous empirical uses in different regions of the world, where mother-of-pearl is often present in local pharmacopeias, for skincare applications.
MEGA BIOPHARMA scientists first studied at length the metabolism of these shells and the mechanisms of creation in the protected mode of the mother-of-pearl constituting the exoskeleton of these organisms. They then selected species, including the Pinctada Maxima, one of the main forms of the pearl oyster (also called “Mother-of-Pearl”).
“We have chosen to understand the mechanisms of this completely natural biomaterial, its interactions with our body, to identify and improve certain unique properties in order to offer BIONACRE®, a set of innovative, effective and safe therapeutic solutions, making it possible to improve, the safety, the comfort and social well-being of millions of people,” says Joel DRAI.
Implants, bone substitutes, and creams
Research work and pre-clinical and clinical observations have enabled the company to develop specific patented processes, and to prove the feasibility and performance of several types of application, depending on the possible forms of the biomaterial:
Unique osteogenic and bioerodable Implants, plates and screws and anchors are intended for orthopedic repair, shaped, possibly custom-made, from solid or bio-absorbable forms of BIONACRE®. This technology allows the avoidance of a second surgery, thanks to the fully resorbable property of the biomaterial. Bone substitutes in the form of the powder of BIONACRE® are used for the repair and defect filling in the dental or orthopedic fields. In vertebroplasty, BIONACRE® comes as a sealing cement product to address vertebrae defects.
Dermo-cosmetic products will be launched in the last quarter of 2022, under a new clean skincare brand. 12 products in three ranges: a restorative cream to repair damaged skin, sunburns and scratches, four topical products to treat atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and very dry skin and six topical products for normal skin plus 1 food supplement to regenerate all skin types.
Many proofs-of-concepts, tests and usages have conferred proven efficacy on skin for psoriasis, vitiligo, deep burn, and skin regeneration; on cartilage with chondroblasts regeneration; on bones with neo-bone induction; on bone defect filling in dental & vertebroplasty; and last, on fractures with the 1st natural osteogenic, bioerodable and bioresorbable plates & screws allowing to avoid a 2nd surgery for the orthopedic device removal.
We are well advanced in the process of FDA certification (510k regulatory path) that will lead our go-to-market strategy with key partners (MEGA DENTAL, French distribution leader of dental products).
MEGA BIOPHARMA is composed of a technological platform that gathers all support and transverse functions (administrative, fundamental R&D, quality, regulatory affairs, scientific committee).
The versatility of our biomaterial offers a very wide range of potential markets and products.
For the time being, MEGA BIOPHARMA targets specifically 4 markets and has created dedicated vertical divisions for each one of them, with its 26 employees (7 are dedicated to the company’s dermo-cosmetics project); 3 sites (2 of them for R&D and production). The company’s strong patent strategy materializes 165 patents recorded in 5 patent categories worldwide. “Whatever the form initially used, powder or solid, its biomimetic, osteoconduction and osteogencity properties for bone regeneration, BIONACRE® shows an astonishing ability to adapt to any recipient site, by putting itself under the dependence of the host, helping the process to rebuild lost tissue. For example, most of the loss of bone substance caused by an accident (multiple fractures), the powder form of BIONACRE®, used in surgery as a bone substitute, is “recognized” biologically by the patient’s organism to fill up of the loss of substance, helping repair and rebuild damaged bones.
Our scientific publications put in evidence spectacular biological effects, total biocompatibility, and absence of side effects. The possible applications of BIONACRE® are extremely broad. We are confident in the fast development of our biotechnology company thanks to the support of our financial partners. We ambition to broadly distribute our BIONACRE® products. Our DNA is to be at the service of human while being respectful of nature “, concludes Joel DRAI.
An experienced and recognized scientific committee.