Cook Biotech, Purdue Research Park, West Lafayette, Indiana
Cook Biotech, Purdue Research Park, West Lafayette, Indiana
Restoring tissue. Improving life.
About Us
Every successful innovation has a story.
Ours began more than 30 years ago, when a Purdue University biomedical engineering team discovered the regenerative properties of porcine small intestinal submucosa (SIS) and other extracellular matrix materials.
In 1995, based on research supporting the versatility and effectiveness of SIS, Cook Group Inc. licensed the technology from the Purdue Research Foundation and established Cook Biotech Inc. to develop and commercialize the new biomaterials. This collaboration bridged the two worlds of a well-established, innovative medical company and a prestigious research university.
Since then, Cook Biotech has developed and manufactured products for clinical applications ranging from dura repair to diabetic foot ulcers, from dental repair to hernia repair. To date, we have shipped more than 6 million products through our global network of partners and distributors.
Entrepreneur Bill Cook—who founded Cook Medical in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1963—established Cook Biotech in the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, Indiana. From the beginning, Mr. Cook instilled in the new company a core value that holds true throughout all Cook medical companies worldwide today:
Patients come first.
Cook hired recent Purdue University graduates Dr. Michael Hiles and Dr. Umesh Patel as the startup’s first two employees.
As graduate students in the Purdue Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center, Hiles and Patel had played instrumental roles in the discovery of and subsequent research into SIS, including many aspects of processing and designing prototype devices.
Along with a growing team, Hiles and Patel focused on establishing medical-grade SIS while maintaining the material’s natural structure, strength, and regenerative properties. In 1998, the FDA cleared the first SIS clinical applications—wound treatments, and in 1999, hernia repair and soft-tissue reinforcement.
Cook Biotech’s first two employees, Michael Hiles
and Umesh Patel, in 1995, with the first piece
of SIS produced at Cook Biotech
and Umesh Patel, in 1995, with the first piece
of SIS produced at Cook Biotech
Cook Biotech’s first two employees, Michael Hiles and Umesh Patel, in 1995, with the first piece of SIS produced at Cook Biotech
Cook hired recent Purdue University graduates Dr. Michael Hiles and Dr. Umesh Patel as the startup’s first two employees.
As graduate students in the Purdue Hillenbrand Biomedical Engineering Center, Hiles and Patel had played instrumental roles in the discovery of and subsequent research into SIS, including many aspects of processing and designing prototype devices.
Along with a growing team, Hiles and Patel focused on establishing medical-grade SIS while maintaining the material’s natural structure, strength, and regenerative properties. In 1998, the FDA cleared the first SIS clinical applications—wound treatments, and in 1999, hernia repair and soft-tissue reinforcement.
Dr. Michael Hiles and Dr. Umesh Patel at Cook Biotech today
Dr. Michael Hiles and Dr. Umesh Patel at Cook Biotech today
Today, Cook Biotech President Umesh Patel and Senior VP of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer Michael Hiles continue to lead Cook Biotech’s mission to serve patients.
Cook Biotech’s global team of more than 200 people includes many other key employees who—like Hiles and Patel—have been with the company since its inception or shortly thereafter. Combined, they represent an impressive cumulative amount of expertise not only in SIS, but in other promising advanced biomaterials for restoring tissue and improving life.
The Cook Biotech team in 2018
Cook Biotech
Partners
Cook Biotech’s vision is to serve patients and demonstrate leadership by providing customers with engaging service and product excellence.
We actively seek and welcome partnerships with researchers, distributors, start-up medical device companies, and established medical companies to bring life-improving technologies to patients. We could not fulfill our vision without our diverse, global network of partners, and we are continuously looking for additional collaborations. Our engagement with our partners ranges from private-label, contract manufacturing to support in the areas of research, development, and regulatory affairs. If you have an idea for developing a transformative medical solution, please use our Contact Us form.
We are proud to collaborate with the following companies:
AxoGen
Axogen Inc. is the leading company focused specifically on the science, development, and commercialization of technologies for peripheral nerve regeneration and repair. Axogen provides surgical solutions that help to restore peripheral nerve function and quality of life to patients with physical damage or transection to peripheral nerves. The company has developed and licensed a unique and comprehensive product portfolio that is changing the standard of care for patients with peripheral nerve injuries. Axogen distributes AxoGuard® nerve-repair products, which are manufactured by Cook Biotech.
Cook Animal Health
Cook Animal Health is a small, family-owned company committed to offering veterinary medical devices and food animal generics as alternatives for veterinarians and animal producers. The world of animal health has changed over the past few decades, and there are fewer alternatives than ever before. Cook Animal Health thinks it’s vitally important for an innovative company to offer alternatives. In the end, their focus is the patient.
Cook Medical
Since 1963, Cook Medical has worked closely with physicians to develop technologies that eliminate the need for open surgery. Today, Cook Medical combines medical devices, biologic materials, and cellular therapies to help the world’s healthcare systems deliver better outcomes more efficiently. Cook Medical has always remained family owned so that they have the freedom to focus on what they care about: patients, their employees, and their communities.
Corza Ophthalmology
Corza Ophthalmology, a business unit of Corza Medical, is dedicated to vision care globally. Their broad portfolio includes biologics, diagnostic lenses, punctum plugs, knives, instruments, devices, and suture. The commitment and promise at Corza Ophthalmology is to always prioritize our clinicians, so that they can prioritize patients and together create the best patient experience. Find trusted product brands like Katena, Sharpoint, Asico, Blink, Barron, AmbioDisk, EagleVision, tarSys and more at corzaeye.com. Corza Medical is a medical device and biosurgery company with decades of experience delivering innovative products to the global surgical community.
Elutia
Elutia is a public company dedicated to the development and commercialization of biologic products that improve compatibility between medical devices and the patients who need them. With a growing population in need of implantable technologies, Elutia’s mission is humanizing medicine so patients can thrive without compromise. One of Elutia’s core products, CanGaroo®, is derived from Cook Biotech’s small intestinal submucosa (SIS) and is for use with implantable electronic devices.
Keystone Dental Group
Headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, Keystone Dental Group (KDG) is a leading global oral healthcare company. KDG unites two international brands, Keystone Dental and Paltop Advanced Dental Solutions, both driven by a culture of innovation and quality specializing in implant, regenerative, and digital dentistry. Keystone Dental Group develops, manufactures, and commercializes industry-leading technologies and offers training, support, and a wide range of services to dental practitioners, clinics, and laboratories all over the world. KDG’s comprehensive portfolio gives clinicians the confidence to deliver the best possible care to ultimately improve patients’ quality of life. Keystone Dental Group distributes DynaMatrix® tissue-grafting products, which are manufactured by Cook Biotech.
Sanara MedTech
Sanara MedTech is a medical technology company focused on improving patient outcomes with cutting-edge, evidence-based technologies. Sanara MedTech develops, markets, and distributes products across the full continuum of care from surgery to post-op care. Sanara MedTech’s products are sold primarily in the North American advanced wound care and surgical tissue repair markets. Sanara MedTech distributes FORTIFY TRG® Tissue Repair Graft, FORTIFY FLOWABLE® Extracellular Matrix, and VIM™ Human Amniotic Membrane, which are manufactured by Cook Biotech.
Smith & Nephew
Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business dedicated to helping improve people’s lives. With a wide portfolio of wound care products targeting chronic and acute wounds, Smith & Nephew is recognized as a global expert across the full spectrum of wound care. Smith & Nephew distributes OASIS® wound care products, which are manufactured by Cook Biotech.
Torigen Pharmaceuticals
Torigen Pharmaceuticals is a start-up biopharmaceutical company focused on providing cutting-edge, individualized therapeutics to the veterinary market. Torigen’s personalized cancer immunotherapy, VetiVax™, utilizes Cook Biotech’s SIS technology and a surgically resected portion of a patient’s tumor to create a series of personalized cancer vaccines. Torigen offers Vetivax™ to general practice veterinarians.
Torigen.com/
Torigen.com/
Vetrix
Serving veterinary practitioners across the globe, Vetrix® is the gold standard in biological regenerative veterinary medicine. Vetrix® offers the most scientifically proven biological scaffold on the market. Veterinarians ranging from university and specialty practices to general hospitals are reaching for Vetrix® to provide the very best care to their patients.
European Distributors
As Cook Biotech’s newest division, our European team works with distributors to make our products available throughout Europe. For information on our products and distributors, visit CookBiotech.eu.
Academic Institutions
Cook Biotech sponsors research into advanced biomaterials and regenerative medicine at world-class research institutions. Cook Biotech limits indirect/overhead costs to 30% of direct research costs. If interested, please call or email to inquire.