History
In late 2004, a US operation, ApaTech Inc. was established in Foxborough, Massachusetts and in 2007, ApaTech GmbH, headquartered in Berlin.
ApaTech outgrew the available space on the University site in late 2005 moving to a new 10,000sq ft headquarters and manufacturing facility in Elstree, Hertfordshire. Recent expansion has resulted in an additional 32,000 sq ft manufacturing and corporate office at the Elstree site.
ApaTech's technology is based on initial research to engineer the optimum structure and chemistry for a safe, effective graft material that closely approximates natural bone and that effectively accelerates new bone growth. The team developed a process to create a material with a range of tightly controlled porosities that provide different properties tailored to differing surgical applications. The bone graft material is specifically designed with pores of different sizes to encourage the free movement of cells, fluid, nutrients and signaling molecules. Even the walls (struts) of the pores are porous to maximize this movement. The result is a clinically proven material with >95% interconnectivity that enables bone to grow throughout the graft and integrate fully with host bone.
The subsequent development of these insights was to examine the effect on bone growth of novel chemical formulations of calcium phosphate, the basis of all ceramic synthetic bone graft substitutes. Studies identified that when a small number of phosphate groups were replaced with silicate the new chemistry increased the bioactivity of the material. As a result, circulating proteins essential for bone cell adhesion and activation are attracted to the material surface in increased numbers and in the correct conformation. This resulted in the development of Actifuse, a new class of bone graft substitute, thus stimulating rapid formation of bone and improving the subsequent organization and strength of the graft/host bone composite structure.