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Orthocell (ASX:OCC) has boosted its stake in a Western Australia-based biotech company called ‘PearlBone,’ which uses nacre, the material from which pearls are made, but which also includes part of the shell, to create bone regeneration products – something that once landed the company its own WA government press release spruiking the startup.
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If that sounds left of field to you, you aren’t alone. Another north WA-based pearl company, Willie Creek Pearls, outlines on its website part of the PearlBone offering (itself spearheaded by a group called Marine Biomedical, with whom OCC further bolstered its relationship on Monday). From that, one can glean some insight into BM’s feedstock arrangements.
“Once fished for the purpose of making buttons, the Mother of Pearl shell has entered a new and exciting phase in its product lifecycle… Willie Creek Pearls is collaborating with MedTech company Marine Biomedical to supply shell,” Willie writes.
For its part, MB points to founding research from UWA scientists Professor Minghao Zheng and Dr Rui (Chris) Ruan – describing itself as “Co-founded by Professor Minghao Zheng and marine biologist Patrick Moase through a commercial collaboration with the University of Western Australia; and Robert Banfield, Chairman of Willie Creek Pearls.”
Looking at the research from UWA, as simplified on the company’s website – nacre is being used to produce a “mineralised bone matrix” that ultimately mimics human bone. Nacre, like bones, are made from types of calcium; according to MB, it’s identical. The product, a paste, is injected into damaged bone to assist healing.
And now, Orthocell holds a 12% stake in the company, which is costing it around $1M. For its part, this just adds to an impressive +104% YoY returns for OCC shareholders, and PealBone clearly gels with Orthocell’s existing focus on bone healing products as part of its overall value prop.
Worth noting: Marine Biomedical are intending, at some point, to roll out PearlBone before the FDA.
OCC last traded at $1.36/sh.
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