Because of a conservative clinical culture and a skittish venture community, medical-device company creation has lagged in Europe. The reasons for the lack of device company creation are several: a physician community that is not only not entrepreneurial, but often averse to capitalizing on commercial opportunities; a venture capital community unfamiliar with devices; and a lack of

Uniting engineering with biology is the aim of IsoTis BV. The start-up has a portfolio of 33 patents all related to what the company terms "substitution medicine", the replacement or repair of human tissue.

Orthopedic Implants. Implex is using an advanced biomaterial called {Hedrocel} in devices for a variety of musculoskeletal applications. {Hedrocel} has excellent biocompatibility, mechanical properties approximating those of human bone, and providesthe body with an "open cell" scaffold through which bone and other living tissue may grow.