Baxter announced receipt of a major research and development (R&D) grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)’s “From Material to Innovation” program to lead a consortium investigating an anticoagulation-free hemodialysis (HD) option for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. The grant provides €1.5 million in funding over three years to Baxter’s research team in Hechingen, Germany, and the consortium partners to find a solution that will improve health-related, quality-of-life outcomes for the millions of patients receiving HD therapy globally.
The consortium is taking a novel approach to its research by analyzing modifications of dialysis membranes to minimize the interaction between blood and membrane surfaces — which is the main cause of blood clotting. The Baxter-led consortium brings together leading experts on polymer membrane science, active and interactive materials and functional nanostructured interfaces from the DWI Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials Aachen and the Leibniz-Institute for Polymer Research Dresden, as well as innovative tools for the analysis of blood-material interactions from Hot Screen GmbH in Reutlingen.
“We are uniquely positioned to challenge standards and transform the quality of renal care treatment options through the work of our dedicated, world-class research and development teams,” said Sumant Ramachandra, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president, chief science and technology officer, Baxter. “Our team in Hechingen is the global leader in membrane research and development, which is why we are confident our colleagues will lead this consortium in successfully exploring an anticoagulant-free dialysis option to improve patient outcomes globally.”
In 2012, Baxter received a grant from BMBF’s “BioMatVital: BioDisposabes” project to investigate a new generation of dialysis membranes to improve the treatment of chronic inflammation in ESRD patients. This research helped inform the company’s development of the Theranova dialyzer, which is a unique type of HD therapy that extends the range of molecules that can be filtered from the blood, resulting in a clearance profile that more closely mimics the natural kidney. HDx enabled by the Theranova dialyzer is available in Canada and select European, Latin American and Asian markets, and is currently an investigational device in the United States.