Nanotope is building a suite of products to be injected into injured tissue, or in the case of wound healing, to be applied topically. Upon injection, the products form a substrate that actively directs surviving cells to re-grow damaged tissue. The technology consists of a customizable matrix of nanofibers that provides three-dimensional bioactive scaffolding in which cells and tissues may grow and differentiate. Individual peptide-based molecules are engineered to provide customizable bioactivity and gelation under physiological conditions.

The molecules, which are termed ‘peptide amphiphiles’ have three distinct regions: a short peptide sequence that exerts a biological influence a structure-forming peptide segment, and a hydrophobic fatty acid that promotes self-assembly and nanofiber formation. The number of different bioactive regions is large and may be engineered to elicit specific cell responses in different tissues. It is this factor that allows Nanotope to use the same core technology for distinct therapeutic applications.