Injecting Hope

Researchers say injectable gel-like substance has healing powers for bone injuries

Shyni Varghese and Hunter Newman in a lab

Published: November 12, 2024

Credits: Susan R. Miller Duke Communications and Marketing

Tags: Biomedical Engineering; Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science; Orthopaedics; Office for Translation and Commercialization

Schools: Pratt School of Engineering; School of Medicine

Scholars

Laszlo Ormandy Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Affiliate of the Duke Regeneration Center

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Postdoctoral Associate

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Call it a science fair for adults. On November 20, Duke inventions and companies started by faculty and students will be featured at the sixth annual ‘Invented at Duke’ celebration. Duke Today introduces you to three inventor teams who were supported with financing and mentoring by Duke translational funds and incubators.

Imagine being able to inject a gel-like substance into a fractured bone to help it heal more quickly and ease the pain associated with the injury.

Shyni Varghese, professor of biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering & materials science, and orthopedic surgery, and Hunter Newman, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, teamed up to develop and bring this innovative technology to market.

Varghese, a self-proclaimed “lab rat,” and Newman, a budding entrepreneur, met when Newman was a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke. He was interested in Varghese’s research and asked about becoming a student in her lab.

“I remember our first conversation when she asked, ‘Do you want to be a professor? Do you want to go into industry?’ And I said, ‘Well, no, I want to start a company.’” Newman says.

Four years later, that’s what they did. OsteoCure Therapeutics was born out of Varghese’s 10-plus years of research into bone healing and the use of biomaterials to deliver therapeutic molecules. This research has led to the identification of adenosine, a naturally occurring small molecule that promotes bone formation while preventing fat formation, and can also ease pain following a bone injury or orthopedic surgery.

“Hunter was very excited about taking the technology out of the lab, bringing it to a separate entity, and getting it to the market to help patients,” Varghese said.

“I hope it will show students that the work you do during your Ph.D. is not just publishing a paper. You can take your technology and make it into something that will help patients.”
Hunter Newman

Their injectable gel technology, a multifaceted therapeutic formulation, stands apart from others in that current analgesics (painkillers) interfere with the healing process, but theirs simultaneously promotes healing and alleviates pain.

“We’re coming at it from multiple perspectives, we’re not only promoting bone formation, but we’re also inhibiting bone resorption (the destruction of bone tissue that results in bone loss),” Newman said. “We’re also increasing angiogenesis (the process of new blood vessels forming from existing blood vessels in the body, which helps the body heal) and blood flow at earlier time points, as well as addressing fracture or surgical pain.”

They conferred with doctors to learn from them what they wanted out of the technology.

Hunter Newman, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, shows what the injectable gel looks like.

“The best thing about Shyni being 50 percent orthopedic and 50 percent engineering is that we had easy access to clinicians,” Newman says.

The gel has applications for young and old alike. The elderly, for example, suffer from slower healing and more pain. For younger people, particularly athletes, it helps to get them back on their feet and back in the game faster.

The next step is to conduct studies in larger animals “that will give us evidence to go into human clinical trials and show the efficacy in humans as well as safety. Then, after we demonstrated that, we can apply to enter the market," Newman says.

Newman says had it not been for Shyni’s flexibility and support, he might not have been able to pursue his passion.

“As long as I was getting my thesis research under control, Shyni supported me in gaining all the business acumen I needed to complement my technical skills,” he says. He adds that his experience, including several years as part of the Office for Translation & Commercialization’s OTC Fellows program, sets a positive example for other students.

“I hope it will show students that the work you do during your Ph.D. is not just publishing a paper. You can take your technology and make it into something that will help patients,” he said.

Varghese, who describes herself as a “fast-paced person,” says her students have taught her the importance of listening and slowing down.

“We (principal investigators) are alpha people, most of us, so we always think that we know everything. I learned one thing: I have a lot to learn from my students,” she says.