December 2013 NUI Galway Biomaterial Based Research Institute (NFB) Wins Medical Technology Industry Excellence Award

The Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials (NFB) has been presented with a Medical Technology Industry Excellence Award for 2013.

NUI Galway’s Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials has won the 2013 Academic/Emerging Medical Technology Company of the Year-Silver Award, was awarded at a ceremony in Galway recently.

The awards, established in 2007, are supported by Irish Medical Devices Association (IMDA), Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland and aimed at recognising and promoting outstanding performance in the medical technology sector in Ireland.

The NFB is an academia-industry-clinician partnership which has established collaborative projects with a large number of leading medical device companies. These projects focus on trouble-shooting biomaterial-based issues in medical devices such as pre-clinical evaluation of prototypes, and validation of novel medical device technologies through clinician-led innovation.

Joint efforts between the NFB and partners address biomaterial-based medical device solutions for unmet clinical niche markets. NFB’s unique biomaterial platform technologies help to enrich companies’ existing portfolios through product enhancements and adding value to their existing technology.

Collaborative projects with the NFB add to existing devices through process and solution development and consultative support. The market share, head count and profitability of the NFB’s medical device industry partners represent significant economic benefit to Ireland.

Professor Abhay Pandit, NFB Team Leader said, “It is an honour to be recognised at the Med Tech Awards. The NFB prides itself on its collaborations with the medical device industry having engaged with nearly forty companies, licenced one of our extracellular matrix technologies and created a spin out company. We are very thankful that our hard work and achievements have been acknowledged.”

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