Biocoat (Horsham, PA), a company that lays claim to offering Hydak, the only hydrophilic medical device coating based on the naturally occurring substance hyaluronic acid, has announced a comarketing agreement with Agion Technologies Inc. (Wakefield, MA), a provider of silver-based antimicrobial solutions. Through the partnership, the two companies will collaborate to develop and promote hyaluronan-based hydrophilic coatings that feature silver-based antimicrobial properties for use on such medical devices as catheters. The resulting products will offer nonthrombogenicity and inhibition of microbes on coated surfaces.

"We believe that Agion's silver zeolite technology and the unique properties of coatings based on hyaluronic acid will be a major advance in medical coatings," says Djoerd Hoekstra, CEO of Biocoat. Josh Simon, Biocoat senior product manager for coating technologies adds, "This is an exciting development not only because it allows us to produce a lubricious coating with antimicrobial properties, but also because of the market timing and prospects for further development of advanced medical coatings."