SME News Q4 2018

SME NEWS / Q4 2018 23 , Oxtex is a pioneering provider of medical solutions in the fields of reconstructive and dental surgery. In August, the firmwere awarded in the 2018 SME UK Enterprise Awards with the ‘Award for Innovation in Tissue Expansion Solutions’. Following this well-deserved win, we profiled the firm to see how they continue to create cutting edge solutions for the modern demands of medicine. Providing Pioneering Surgical Solutions for Modern Medicine Spun-out from the University of Oxford, Oxtex is an early-stage medical device company that develops a range of novel devices for soft tissue expansion. More specifically, they have created products that solve a problem that is omnipresent in reconstructive surgery – the absence of sufficient skin to promote healing in the area where the surgery is taking place. In essence, Oxtex have utilised the skin’s natural ability to grow when put under controlled tension, to facilitate the creation of additional tissue. Their devices are implanted close to the ‘repair site’ where it will -slowly- expand in one direction, guiding the growth of skin in a specific and controlled way. Oxtex’s devices can be implemented across numerous areas of plastic surgery for example, burns, and crossbite correction, as well as the veterinary market. Regardless of the unique medical benefits that the tissue expander offers, it also reduced the cost of treatment and represents a significant improvement over existing self-inflating hydrogel expanders. More than all of this, Oxtex’s work opens the door to entirely new procedures that would have been deemed too risky to perform with prior technologies. For the veterinary industry, Oxtex offer ‘Expaniderm’, a soft tissue expander catered towards equine and canine surgery. Unlike human applications, Expaniderm is most often utilised for the management of masses and sarcoids. Equally, as the global cosmetic surgery industry grows on the back of renewed interest in previously disinterested markets, Oxtex’s products provide a safer, more reliable, more controlled procedure. In this Oxtex are, in many ways, an accelerator to further innovation in medicine. For their work, Oxtex have been recognised twice in the OBN Awards, as the Best Emerging MedTech in 2011, and Best New MedTech Product in 2012. In this, SME News’ recognition comes as only the latest in a line of accolades dedicated to recognising pace-setters and pioneers. There can be no doubt that Oxtex fit this mould more than most – they are a company that has created an elegant, reliable solution to a very present problem plaguing medicine, leading the way for others to innovate in turn. UKE18170 Company: Oxtex Limited Address: Witney Business and Innovation Centre, Witney, OX29 7DX, UK Website: www.oxtex.com Telephone: +44 (0) 1993 848248