Aroa Biosurgery�s Endoform� Platform Shown to Attract Stem Cells

HIGHLIGHTS

• Further validation gained for Aroa�s proprietary Endoform^® platform with peer-reviewed publication in PLOS ONE.
• Study provides further insights on the ability of components found within the Endoform^® ECM platform technology to recruit stem cells from surrounding healthy tissue to support soft tissue repair.
• Further research to be undertaken on novel protein component shown to attract stem cells.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#AroaBiosurgery–Soft tissue regeneration company Aroa Biosurgery Limited (ASX:ARX, ‘Aroa’ or the ‘Company’) has gained further validation for Endoform^®, its flagship extracellular matrix (ECM), with a new study published in respected international peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE.

The paper, titled ‘A novel chemotactic factor derived from the extracellular matrix protein decorin recruits mesenchymal stromal cells in vitro and in vivo’, stems from a collaborative study between the Aroa scientific team and scientists from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand and Charles River Laboratories in Germany.

Aroa’s lead scientist for the study, Dr Sandi Dempsey, said the paper describes the ability of components found within the Endoform^® ECM platform technology to signal stem cells in laboratory models.

“Endoform^® contains a vast number of proteins that interact with a patient’s own cells to support the repair of damaged tissue in different ways. This data suggests that one such mechanism occurs by recruiting stem cells from the surrounding healthy tissue to support soft tissue repair,” Dr Dempsey says.

Dr Barnaby May, co-author of the study and Aroa’s Vice President of Research and Clinical Development said, “These recent findings provide further peer-reviewed validation of how the Endoform^® ECM technology performs a critical role in soft tissue repair. Endoform^® is an advanced bioscaffold with a rich composition of proteins that naturally occur in humans and help the body to regenerate. That we have shown Endoform^® attracts stem cells to the site of tissue damage goes one step further towards unlocking the full regenerative capacity of Endoform^®.”

Aroa’s CEO Brian Ward said the findings build on extensive pre-clinical and clinical research on Endoform^® over the past 10 years as the company continues to focus on improving the rate and quality of healing in complex wounds and soft tissue reconstruction.

The published study also identified a novel protein component found in all tissue, dubbed ‘MayDay’ after the lead authors Dr Barnaby May (Aroa) and Dr Darren Day (Victoria University of Wellington).

‘MayDay’ was shown to communicate with stem cells and could play an important role during normal soft tissue repair such as wound healing, and further studies will be ongoing to understand the role that ‘MayDay’ plays in soft tissue repair.

Endoform^® is derived from ovine (sheep) forestomach and includes a basement membrane layer and propria-submucosa (supportive connective tissue). It acts as a scaffold to grow new tissue lost or damaged through disease or injury, allowing the patient’s own cells to grow into the matrix to build new tissue and re-establish blood supply. As the patient continues to heal, this is replaced by their own tissue.

Aroa has five commercial products approved for sale in the US based on the Endoform^® technology, which have been used in more than four million procedures targeting chronic wounds, hernia, soft tissue and breast reconstruction. Aroa has regulatory clearance in more than 37 countries and a deep patent portfolio.

Authorised on behalf of the Aroa Biosurgery Board of Directors by Brian Ward, CEO.

About Aroa Biosurgery:

Aroa Biosurgery is a soft-tissue regeneration company that develops, manufactures, sells and distributes medical and surgical products to improve healing in complex wounds and soft tissue reconstruction. Committed to ‘unlocking regenerative healing for everybody’, its products are developed from the Company’s proprietary Endoform^® technology platform, a novel extracellular matrix biomaterial derived from ovine (sheep) forestomach. Clinically proven with peer reviewed publications, Aroa’s products have been used in more than four million procedures to date, with distribution into its key market of the United States by Appulse and Tela Bio. Founded in 2008, Aroa is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:ARX). www.aroabio.com/

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