A NEW material to repair worn-out knee joints has been inspired by spiders weaving their webs.

The technology of spiders is being harnessed by Orthox, based at Milton Park, near Abingdon, which has received two Government grants worth £469,000 to help prepare for clinical trials of its material, called Spidrex, to repair knee cartilage.

Chief executive Nick Skaer said: “We extract molecules from silk and put them together using the technology that spiders use when they weave.

“It is inspired by spiders, but we use silk from silkworms, which has a long tradition of use in medicine, to suture wounds.”

The material, which provides a scaffold allowing the body to regenerate tissue and cells, is based on research by Oxford University's ‘silk group’, where Prof Fritz Vollrath and Dr David Knight have spent decades working on a material that uses the resilience, high strength and biocompatibility of spider silk.

The group aims to unravel the chemistry, ecology and evolution of the material. The group also studies spider engineering and behaviour.

Orthox’s latest funding from the Technology Strategy Board consists of £264,000 to fast track a knee repair product to clinical trials next year, which are likely to involve about 50 patients. Another £205,000 was awarded to develop cartilage and bone products.

Last January, the Wellcome Trust awarded Orthox £1.6m to fund its knee repair programme.

Orthox is one of three linked university spin-offs using the Spidrex silk protein technology. Neurotex is developing nerve repair devices, while Suturox is commercialising wound closure products.

Orthox has two collaborations with Northwick Park Institute for Medical Research, headed by Dr Paul Sibbons.

Mr Skaer said they would continue to seek funding to bring the programmes to the market.

He said: “If successful, we could potentially provide a ground breaking solution to knee cartilage issues faced by people leading longer, more active lives.”

At the moment, athletes who damage their meniscal cartilage usually undergo an operation to remove the damaged part of the tissue, or to replace the knee joint using a metal and plastic implant.

He added: “Our device is designed to go in at an early stage of knee injury, to avoid the need for a knee replacement, which is a growing problem.

“At the rate we are going, by 2030, we will need 2.3 million knee replacements in the western world, with a £40bn healthcare bill, so any advances are going to be incredibly important.”