By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Korea Bone Bank (KBB), a Seoul-based provider of medical devices and products, said it is ready to mass produce and market its bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), known for their ability to stimulate the production of new bone in the body.

KBB said that local pharmaceutical company Woongbee MeDiTec will be its Korean distributor for the bone-regenerating proteins, called recombinant human BMP-2 (rhBMP-2), which is to be made available for research purposes.

The company's rhBMP-2-based BMP product, Rafugen BMP2, which is to be used for treatment, is expecting clinical trials and could be commercially available as early as the end of the year.

BMPs, which are garnering rapt attention within the medical industry for their immense commercial potential, are natural growth factors that promote bone formation and healing after injury. The recent advancement in technology now enables the synthetic production of BMPs and their application onto fracture sties during surgery.

American pharmaceutical maker Wyeth had previously dominated the production of BMPs, but its patent rights expired in 2008.

KBB said it is the only the world's second company, after Phizer, to successfully develop rhBMP-2 for research use and attain the ability for mass production.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr