Bright future at Garwood Medical Devices following deal with global firm

Buffalo-based Garwood Medical Devices is commercializing technology that can prevent and treat infections associated with joint and other metallic implants.

The company's work got a significant boost recently when Garwood inked a deal with Teijin Limited, a Tokyo-based conglomerate with nearly $8 billion in annual sales and 20,000 employees across the globe. Teijin is investing in Garwood and funding a laboratory in Tokyo to conduct joint research and development.

The deal will hasten Garwood's pathway to the market by providing expertise, funding and access to the Japanese market. Garwood plans to enter clinical trials later this year.

The WNY Impact Investment Fund invested $500,000 in Garwood in 2019 based on its novel BioPrax technology, which creates an electrochemical reaction around the surface of metallic implants to kill bacteria. This is a critically important mission, as infected knee and hip implants lead to distressing rates of amputation and death.

"Garwood represents the best kind of innovation - a chance to alter the course of an industry and relieve a tremendous amount of suffering in the process," WNY Impact Investment Fund CEO Tom Quinn said. "It's exactly the kind of thing that's possible in Buffalo when given the right amount funding of support."

Quinn is also a Garwood board member.

Teijin, which has pharmaceutical and implantable medical device businesses, signed a joint research and development agreement that will bring Garwood's technology to Japan. Through the deal, Teijin is also investing in Garwood through a strategic investment fund managed by another party, Silicon Valley-based Pegasus Tech Ventures.

Garwood has a bacterial lab in the University at Buffalo's Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, and engineering and administration in the "Red Shed" building adjacent to the Northland Workforce Training Center on Buffalo East Side. The company's BioPrax technology has been granted "Breakthrough Device" designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"The partnership provides a substantial boost to our research, development, and commercialization efforts," Garwood CEO Wayne Bacon said. "We believe our technology will improve the lives of millions of patients across the world."

See Garwood Medical's press release here.