Novus Scientific in the News (Swedish)

We’re planning for the big breakthrough!

Novus Scientific has a patent for an invention - a biodegradable implantable mesh with unique properties.

Market: General and plastic surgery - worldwide.
- We expect to grow substantially, says Stefan Sowa, Director at the head office in Uppsala.

The business idea is a unique surgical mesh, which is currently manufactured by a partner in the U.S. and used in surgical procedures, primarily in the U.S., since 2010. It is also CE marked.
- But our product is so new on the market, explains Stefan Sowa, VP Operations & Site Manager at the company's headquarters in Uppsala, where 15 people work.
- We are planning for the big breakthrough - and hope to increase our turnover from 10 to 400 million SEK in the next five years.

The uniqueness of the Novus product is the combination of the material and the way it is knitted.
- Surgical mesh is usually made of ordinary plastic, says Stefan Sowa. But ours is 100 percent biodegradable and eventually disappears from the body. Initially it serves as a support for soft tissue wounds immediately after surgery, then stimulates collagen re-growth during the healing term for scarring risk mitigation.
- We’re waiting until the independent clinical studies are completed. But I can say that the response from physicians and patients has been overwhelming.

Novus Scientific are new members of the (Swedish) Chamber of Commerce.
- Joining creates important contacts, which is good especially with regards to recruitment and collaborations, says Stefan Sowa.
The company was founded in 2009 - but its CEO Thomas Engström has a long and impressive background as an entrepreneur. Thomas - a lawyer from Uppsala - took over his father-in-laws business. His father-in-law was a radiologist who witnessed a lot of broken bones in children during the winter-time as they sat in the sled with straight legs – resulting in impact fractures. He solved this problem by constructing a sledge with a raised seat.
An invention that paved the way for more - including a wire used for the expansion of the coronary arteries, so-called "balloons". The product became a worldwide success - and Thomas and his wife Ann's company was sold to St. Jude Medical in 2008.
Today Thomas, who resides in Singapore, runs a number of activities - including Novus Scientific, which thus expects to grow:
- My guess is that we are 40-60 people at the Uppsala office in a few years, says Stefan Sowa.

+ + +

Novus Scientific - business and number of employees:
• Uppsala - Research and Marketing: 15 people.
• Singapore - sales offices and Economics, 2 people.
• United States - sales offices, 5 people.

• Turnover: Approximately 10 million.
• Results: - 20 million
• Operations: Produces a unique biodegradable implantable mesh used in general and plastic surgery.

Headquarters: Uppsala.

(victoria.lagercrantz@gmail.com)