EP0980273A1

EP0980273A1 - Biodegradable osteosynthesis implant

Info

Publication number: EP0980273A1
Application number: EP98910571A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Oskar E. Illi
Original assignee: White Spot AG
Current assignee: White Spot AG
Priority date: 1997-04-16
Filing date: 1998-04-08
Publication date: 2000-02-23
Also published as: AU6493598A; JP2001519818A; WO1998046289A1; US6214008B1

Abstract

The invention relates to an osteosynthetic implant for joining fractured parts mechanically, consisting of a polymeric, biodegradable base material, for use in reconstructive osteosynthesis. A substance for promoting the regeneration of bone tissue in the fracture area works in conjunction with the implant to promote growth in the fracture area in such a way that the mechanical stress capacity of the healing fracture increases more rapidly, or at least increases as rapidly as the stress capacity of the degrading biodegradable implant decreases.

Description

Biodegradable osteosynthesis implant

The present invention relates to a biodegradable osteosynthesis implant according to the preamble of claim 1 or 2.

Metallic implants have been used in medicine to fix broken bones for over 200 years. Through the selection of suitable biocompatible metal alloys, the mechanical resilience and above all the tissue tolerance of these implants has been optimized in the past decades so that corrosion and rejection reactions hardly occur. The metallic implants can lead to complications in the X-ray and tomographic diagnostic procedures. However, their main disadvantage is that metallic implants cannot be left in the body indefinitely. After the fracture has healed, a second surgical procedure must be carried out to remove the implant. This not only brings a new burden on the patient, but also means considerable costs for the second surgical intervention and for a possible second stay of the patient in the hospital. In addition, there are direct and indirect follow-up costs due to loss of work and aftercare during the second wound healing. Efforts have therefore been made for some time to replace the metallic materials with biodegradable polymers, as a result of which there is no need to remove the implant after the fracture has healed. The use of a biodegradable polylactide plate in osteosynthes ^' e was first described by DE Cutright and EE Hunsuck (Journal of Oral Surgery 33: 28-34, 1972).

In the development of new biodegradable implants, a path was taken for a long time that aimed to replace metallic implants. This means that the implant had to fix the bone fragments on the one hand and bear the mechanical forces acting on the bones on the other.

However, the implants made of resorbable polyester are far inferior in mechanical strength to the metal implants. With suitable manufacturing processes (e.g. injection molding) and the use of optimized material mixtures, implants (e.g. fiber-reinforced) could be manufactured that can withstand high tensile loads, but the bending strength of such workpieces is still relatively low and far below that of metal implants. It has therefore clearly been shown that the range of indications for biodegradable osteosynthesis materials per se is limited to low-stress, rapidly healing fractures. Such fractures can occur, for example, on the ^• skull (skull, cheekbones or upper jaw).

As shown in FIG. 1, the increase in the stability of the bone and the decrease in the stability of the implant are two dynamically running processes which are expressed in two oppositely running sigmoid curves. Ideally, the curves overlap in such a way that the stability of the implant decreases to the same extent as the stability of the bone increases again. Figure la) shows the hypothetical course of fracture healing using only a biodegradable osteosynthesis implant, as is the case, for example, in the treatment of the fractures described above Area of the skull occurs. That _. The implant must be able to take over the full mechanical load at time 0 and the loss of mechanical stability (minus a certain mechanical stability reserve) may only proceed so quickly that it can be compensated for by increasing the stability of the healing bone tissue.

It can also be seen from FIG. 1a) that the loss of stability of the implant cannot be equated with the degradation or loss of mass thereof. Due to various physical and chemical processes (e.g. swelling) the implant loses mechanical stability much faster than it loses mass due to abrasion and degradation.

In general, an implant not only has to fix the bone fragments during fracture healing, but also has to bear the high mechanical forces acting on the bone. The implant can be largely freed from the latter task by external support or stabilization by means of plaster, splint or external fixator, and it only has to ensure that the fragments are fixed. This significantly extends the range of indications for biodegradable polymer implants.

As shown in FIG. 1b), the biodegradable and resorbable implant only has to fix the bone fragments in a certain relative position to one another until the bone material newly formed between them can take over this function again and the additional fixation becomes unnecessary. The mechanical loads that act on the broken bones, however, are borne by the external stabilization until the healing bone has such a high percentage of its mechanical properties has regained that no additional stabilization is necessary. This does not mean that the bone must have regained its full mechanical strength when the external stabilization is removed. Common to all methods is that the affected area is immobilized for a long time and that the reduced muscle activity leads to muscle loss and a deterioration in mobility. To achieve this again, time and cost-intensive therapies must be carried out after removing the external stabilizing agents.

Polylactide (PLA), polyglycolide (PGA), poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL), poly (ß-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) or poly (p-dioxanone) (PDS) and their copolymers become the corresponding ones in the organism Degradation products are broken down and can either flow into the metabolism or be excreted by the body via urine or respiration.

Polylactide (PLA) and polyglycolide (PGA) and their copolymers are broken down by hydrolysis. Since the amorphous areas of partially crystalline PLA degrade faster than the crystalline areas, disintegration of the implant in the surrounding tissue can lead to irritation and inflammation (see also E. Wintermantel and SW. Ha, Biocompatible Materials and Construction, Springer Verlag , Berlin, 1996). A second cause of complications can be the acidic hydrolysis products of the implant. The acidic degradation products are removed from the inside of the implant only much more slowly than from their surface, which leads to an accumulation of acidic degradation products and an increasing acceleration of the degradation by the autocatalytically active carboxyl groups. If the remaining outer wall of the implant breaks at a later point in time of the dismantling, the acidic products can be released suddenly and thus lead to a there is a sudden drop in pH in the surrounding tissue, which can also lead to inflammatory reactions.

The rate of bone healing can be accelerated by various growth factors (GFs). Soluble low molecular weight proteins such as insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) have long been known for their local effects on the growth of cartilage and bone (Canalis, E. and LG Raisz, Endocr. Rev. 4: 62-77, 1983) known. The same authors demonstrated a positive effect of IGF on bone DNA synthesis in periosteal and non-periosteal bone.

An advantage of using IGF in wound and fracture treatment is that IGF has no known relationship to oncogenes.

There are two insulin-like growth factors on the market. IGF-1 (also known as Somatomedin C) is a basic polypeptide consisting of 70 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 7649 D. IGF-1 stimulates inter alia the incorporation of proteoglycan into cartilage by chondrocytes (Froger-Graillard et al., Endocrinology 124: 2365-2372, 1989) and also the synthesis of DNA, RNA and proteins. The slightly acidic polypeptide IGF-2 consists like IGF-

1 out of 4 domains and has a molecular weight of 7471 D. IGF-

2 consists of 67 amino acids. IGFs are primarily dependent on growth hormone (somatotropin; GH). IGF-1 is predominantly active in adults, while IGF-2 is the main growth factor in the fetus.

From the group of transforming growth factors

(Transforming Growth Factors, TGFs) are different

Active ingredients that stimulate growth and that Promote wound healing. The proteins known as Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) can induce ectopic osteogenesis. By Sampath et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 27: 20352-62, 1992) the recombinant human osteogenetic protein-1 (hOP-1; BMP-2a) has been shown to stimulate bone formation in vivo as well as the osteoblast proliferation and differentiation in vitro. DL Griffith et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. Biophysics 93 (2): 878-883, 1996) describe the three-dimensional structure of osteogenic protein 1 (OP1; BMP-7), which can induce bone formation in vivo.

In addition to the BMP-2, the BMP-4 and BMP-7 are available as recombinant proteins from the BMPs which are members of the TGF beta superfamily.

Purified recombinant BMPs appear to be able to induce osteogenesis in vivo only if they are bound to suitable carriers or carriers (E. Tsuruga et al., J. Biochem. 121: 317-324, 1997).

Clinetics is currently testing the use of recombinant human BMP-2 (rhBMP-2) and suitable carrier materials to accelerate and ensure the healing of bone fractures and bone defects by the company Genetics Institute®. Similar to the collagen described in EP-A 0 206 801, instead of the body's own bone material (“auto graft”), the carrier materials are intended to serve as placeholders and scaffolds for the newly forming bone tissue. That in EP-A 0 206 801 Stressed collagen has a very good tissue affinity and acts as a carrier material for BMP. However, these collagen preparations only act as a carrier for the growth factors and do not serve to stabilize the fracture or to fix the bone fragments. The object of the present invention is to combine the positive clinical aspects of bioresorbable implants with those of the growth factors and to minimize the possible negative effects of bioresorbable implants.

This object is achieved by an implant with the features of claim 1 by the combinatorial effect of faster growth in the fracture area, which allows an implant of smaller volume.

The growth factors (GF) that can be used in the present invention come from the group of epidermal growth factors (EGF) or insulin-like growth factors (IGF) or transforming growth factors beta (TGF-beta) or fibroblast growth factors (FGF). Suitable combinations of two or more of them can of course also be used. Many of the above growth factors are commercially available as lyophilized powders. To produce the implants according to the invention, they are converted into one of the following formulations:

a) In a solution with a suitable solvent, such as water or 0. IM acetic acid for IGF, concentrations of 1-10 ng / ml being advantageous.

b) Stored in a lyogel or a xerogel.

c) Encapsulated or stored in biodegradable material, the encapsulation of the GF in microcapsules made of a suitable biodegradable material such as polylactide, for example by means of "in water drying" of w / o / w emulsions. Solid microspheres can be made from a GF Polymer-solvent mixture can be produced, for example, by means of "spray drying".

If the GF is to be introduced into larger polymer bodies, this can be done by adding the GF to the polymer material before or during the extrusion process in the production of bars or band-shaped extrudates at low temperatures or subsequently using the method described by H. Zia et al. 1996 in "Encapsulation and Controlled Release" Thomas Graham House, Cambridge p. 117-130 be accomplished.

d) Covalently bound to carrier proteins or other carriers.

e) As a batch with suitable auxiliaries.

f) As a pure lyophilized powder.

All of the above formulations are well documented and can be textbooks such as DR Karsa and RA Stephenson 1996 "Chemical Aspects of Drug Delivery Systems" Thomas Graham House, Cambridge or DR Karsa and RA ^' Stephenson 1993 "Encapsulation and Controlled Release" Thomas Graham House , Cambridge or the Journal of Controlled Release from Elsevier Science or the product information from various providers, such as SIGMA-ALDRICH ^® or PROMEGA.

The heat stability of all possible growth factors, except the EGF, is very limited, both in solution and in lyophilized. In order to obtain implants with the desired mechanical properties, processing temperatures of over 100 ° C., for example in the injection molding process, are necessary according to the current state of the art. A direct addition of the growth factors to the polymers before or during the manufacture of the implant is therefore not sensible.

Various methods have therefore been developed as to how the finished implants can be loaded with the GFs formulated according to the methods described above:

a) Covalent binding of the GFs to the surfaces of the polymer material of the implant. To optimize the deposition process, the surfaces can be pretreated, for example, using "plasma treatment", as described by H. Thissen et al. In 1996 at the international symposium on "Biodegradable Materials" in Hamburg.

b) applying a GF-containing film layer made of polymer material. This can be done either by immersing the implant in a polymer GF solution or by coating or wrapping the implant with prefabricated polymer GF film.

c) Placement in cavities or recesses of the implants is particularly suitable for the microscopic or macroscopic polymer-GF mixtures or the GF gels. For example, the lumen of a banjo bolt can be filled with a positive-locking polymer GF rod after it has been screwed into the bone.

d) adhesives

The implants produced in this way can have all the configuration forms customary for osteosynthesis implants. Advantageous forms are plates, bandages, fabrics or other flat or rod-shaped elements. Furthermore, connecting elements in the form of screws, rivets, pins, nails, razor wires or cerclages are produced by the methods described above. In addition to the growth factors stored in or on the implant, growth factors that are introduced directly into the fracture area can interact with the implant. For this purpose, the growth factors present in one of the above-mentioned formulations a) to f) are brought into an injectable form and are injected directly into the fracture area or in its immediate vicinity.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the biodegradable implant can be spatially separated from the growth factors. The implant is free of growth factors and the growth factors are only available in the injectable formulation. The growth factors injected directly into the ^• fracture area or in its immediate vicinity interact in an analogous manner to the implants described above with the growth factor-free biodegradable osteosynthesis implant.

FIG. 2a) shows the healing process of a fracture using an implant according to the invention and the associated growth factors. The solid line shows the accelerated temporal course of new bone formation, respectively the increase in the mechanical strength of the healing bone. The slower increase without using growth factors is shown with the dashed line. The implant must still be able to take on the full mechanical load at time 0, but since it only has to bear this for a much shorter period of time, it can be made from materials that are more quickly degradable. The reduced presence of the implant in the body also transforms the amorphous Polymer material reduced to crystallites, which in turn leads to better tissue compatibility.

FIG. 2 b) shows the use of an implant according to the invention with growth factors with additional external stabilization of the fracture. This shows the greatest advantage of the present invention. In addition to the advantages described in FIG. 2a), the accelerated bone healing here results in a substantial reduction (Δt) in the time that the external stabilizing agents have to be worn. The earlier healing of the fracture and the earlier resumption of movement of the affected area not only significantly reduce the duration of the illness, but also significantly reduce the time and financial expenditure required for aftercare.

It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the teaching of the present invention can not only be applied in human medicine, but that the present invention can be used analogously in veterinary medicine for practically all vertebrates. Ideally, the growth factors of the corresponding animal species or genera are used.

Claims

claims

1. Implant made of polymeric biodegradable base material for use in the reconstructive osteosynthesis using active ingredients that promote the regeneration of bone tissue in the fracture area, characterized in that the polymeric biodegradable base material is an osteosynthetic implant for the mechanical connection of fracture parts, the active ingredient being so in The implant is incorporated in such a way that it promotes growth in the fracture area in such a way that the mechanical resilience of the healing fracture increases faster or at least as quickly as the resilience of the degrading biodegradable implant decreases.

2. Implant made of polymeric biodegradable base material for use in the reconstructive osteosynthesis using active ingredients that promote the regeneration of bone tissue in the fracture area, characterized in that the polymeric biodegradable base material is an osteosynthetic implant for the mechanical connection of fracture parts, the active ingredient thus The interaction of the implant is that it promotes growth in the fracture area in such a way that the mechanical resilience of the healing fracture increases faster or at least as quickly as the resilience of the degrading biodegradable implant decreases.

3. Implant according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the active ingredient is at least one of the group of epidermal growth factors (EGF) or Insulin-like growth factors (IGF) or the

Transforming growth factors beta (TGF-beta) or the Fibrobalast growth factors (FGF) or a combination thereof.

4. Implant according to claim 3, characterized in that the active ingredient is a bone morphogenetic protein (bone morphogenetic protein, BMP).

5. Implant according to claim 3, characterized in that the active ingredient insulin-like growth factor 1

(Insuline-Like-Growth-Factor, IGF-1).

6. Implant according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the biodegradable base material is a polymer made of a polylactide (PLA) or a polyglycolide (PGA) or a poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) or a poly (ß-hydroxybutyrate) ( PHB) or a poly (p-dioxanone) (PDS) or a mixture thereof.

7. The implant according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the implant is a plate, a bandage, a tissue or another element having another flat or rod-like shape.

8. Implant according to claim 7, characterized in that the implant is a connecting element in the form of a screw, a rivet, a pin of a nail, a pick wire or a cerclage.

9. Implant according to claim 1, characterized in that the active ingredient is present in one or a combination of the following formulations, a) in solution b) stored in a gel c) encapsulated or stored in biodegradable material d) bound to carrier proteins or other carriers e) as a mixture with suitable auxiliaries f) as a pure lyophilized powder.

10. Implant according to claim 9, characterized in that the active substance formulation is stored in or on the implants, by means of a) covalent binding to the polymer material b) an active substance-containing film layer made of polymer material c) placement in cavities or recesses in the implants d) adhesive.

11. Implant according to claim 2, characterized in that the active ingredient is present in one or a combination of the following formulations, a) in solution b) embedded in a gel c) encapsulated or embedded in biodegradable material d) bound to carrier proteins or other carriers e) as a mixture with suitable auxiliaries f) as a pure lyophilized powder.

12. The implant according to claim 11, characterized in that the active substance formulation is injectable for application in the fracture area.