Ferring Pharmaceuticals, based in Saint Prex, Switzerland, has acquired the assets of Maryland-based BioSurface Engineering Technologies (BioSET), including two phase III ready orthobiologic product candidates designed to improve bone repair. The initial indications for Amplex and Prefix to be investigated are fusion in foot/ankle and lumbar spine surgical procedures, respectively. Both products are based on a unique biomimetic peptide designed to enhance the body’s own natural mechanisms of bone repair.

Orthopedics has grown to become one of five key therapeutic areas for Ferring since the 2005 launch of Euflexxa (1% sodium hyaluronate) for the treatment for knee pain due to osteoarthritis.

“With the acquisition of the BioSET portfolio, Ferring intends to build on its growing success in orthopedics,” said Michel Pettigrew, president of the Ferring executive board and chief operating officer. “By developing new orthobiologic products for joint fusion, we will expand and diversify our offering to include innovative solutions for orthopedic surgery.”

Each year approximately two million procedures involving bone graft materials, including approximately 700,000 fusions, are performed in the U.S. alone. This number is increasing more than 5% annually as orthopedic surgeons treat an expanding, aging population of patients with severe bone degeneration and traumatic defects.

In addition to Amplex and Prefix, Ferring has acquired a library of rationally designed biomimetic peptides intended for applications in bone and tissue repair.