IT IS the heart-valve pioneer that was once the darling of the stock exchange before – in chairman Bill Brown’s own words – “things started to go wrong”. Fast forward to 2018, however, and AorTech International’s fortunes are flowing once again on the back of a successful £2.6 million fundraise that will enable the development of new products over the next two years.

What’s more, the AIM-listed biomaterials and medical device company, which started life in Lanarkshire, is coming home to Scotland to develop a new generation of patches, grafts and heart-valve products using its groundbreaking Elast-Eon technology. “We’re returning to our roots,” said Lenzie-born Mr Brown.

“It’s no secret that we’ve had a history of problems but we’re ready for a fresh start and what’s really exciting for me is that we’re back working in Scotland, tapping into the fantastic talent pool that we have here with a refreshed company and excellent prospects for the future.”

Eighteen years ago, AorTech was very much at the cutting edge of Scotland’s burgeoning life sciences sector. Its high profile saw it secure many column inches in the business press, particularly after it emerged that AorTech had manufactured former First Minister Donald Dewar’s artificial heart valve.

“We invested heavily and tried to develop a lot of new products, including the heart valve,” Mr Brown said. “Our biggest issue commercially, however, was that the valve was very much ahead of its time so it wasn’t tried and tested. Fortunately, things have moved on and our polymer valve is of major interest.”

The company, registered in Scotland but based in Surrey, also found itself in a long-running dispute with St Jude Medical (now Abbott) over the supply of Elast-Eon plastics for use in the US firm’s medical devices. There was also litigation against former chief executive Frank Maguire. “We’ve had a lot of challenges to contend with,” Mr Brown added.

“In 2002, we were losing £6-7m per annum and the board decided to massively reduce the size of the company and shut Scotland down and focus on our polymer business in Australia.”

With these issues now firmly in the past, AorTech is looking to the future. “It’s hugely exciting,” said Mr Brown, a venture capitalist who graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1983. “Devices using our Elast-Eon technology are in more than five million patients and now we have this new strategy in place to make advances in three main growth platforms – soft tissue patches, grafts and advancing AorTech’s artificial heart valve.”

Elast-Eon, a co-polymer of silicone and polyurethane, combines the biocompatibility of silicone with the flexibility, durability and other mechanical properties of polyurethane. AorTech says it will bring significant improvements to existing types of soft tissue patches and grafts – and enable further important enhancements to the heart-valve product.

The firm will utilise existing Scottish medical device infrastructure to develop the products, working with Ayrshire-based RUA Medical, a contract medical device manufacturer, and Dundee’s Vascular Flow Technologies. “I’ve already alluded to Scotland’s outstanding skills base in the medical devices sector so we’ll be working with these talented people to take our products forward,” said Mr Brown.

Rather than investing bricks and mortar, equipment and people to take these projects forward, it makes sense for AorTech to partner with existing specialists with a proven track record. “They have outstanding resources and people that would cost us millions of pounds to pull together ourselves,” he added. “It’s a slightly different business model but one that is right for us.”

Vascular Flow Technologies, a leading innovator focused on the research and development of proprietary platform technology to improve blood flow in compromised or diseased blood vessels, will be involved in AorTech’s heart valve development along with teams at Ninewells Hospital and the University of Dundee.

“They are the best in Europe, and globally, at what they do,” said Mr Brown, “and will take our work to a new level.” The plan is for the patches and grafts to be ready for sale in the next two years while in the same timescale advancing the heart valve to be ready for human trials.

All the same, developing a medical device is a long process. “You start with an idea and to get to the point where you are ready to start human trials can take around seven years,” he explained. “We’re hoping to speed up the process because there’s a growing need for replacement heart valves all over the world.”

Typically in the Western world an individual’s heart valves will start to calcify around the age of 65. Mechanical valves last for a long time but turbulent blood flow can lead to clots and strokes, so patients with this type of valve also require anti-coagulation treatment. Valves made from animal tissue – usually from cows or pigs – don’t need to be accompanied by anti-coagulation treatment but because they are natural they don’t have same longevity and eventually also start to calcify.

“The benefit of the polymer valve is that it has the durability of a mechanical valve and should not require the patient to need anti-coagulation treatment,” Mr Brown explained. “All of this makes it an attractive option for patients.”

He pointed to the opportunities for the product in the developing medical world, highlighting India as an example. “There are five million people in India with heart disease, mainly rheumatic heart disease,” he said. “These patients have an average age of 25 and have usually had strep throat as a child then rheumatic fever leading to inflammation of the heart valve and subsequent calcification.

“These people then have a life expectancy of two-three years and are not treated on the whole because of the cost but also because with a mechanical valve they would require ongoing anti-coagulation treatment. So there is a big opportunity in the developing medical world to really make a difference to the quality of people’s lives and their life expectancy prospects.”

Meanwhile, AorTech also intends to apply for a Scottish Government research and development grant. Mr Brown confirmed that the company had already had “positive” discussions with Scottish Enterprise. “We’re in an excellent position to take AorTech to the next level,” said Mr Brown.

Changes to the AorTech board have seen the arrival of Geoff Berg, formerly a consultant heart surgeon at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Glasgow where he specialised in surgical treatment of valvular heart disease, as a non-executive director. John Ely, a recognised expert in cardiovascular devices who spent seven years at the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), is also a non-executive director.

“These guys are the best in the world at what they do so we have a great team to guide AorTech in the next phase of its evolution,” said Mr Brown.

Six questions …

What countries have you most enjoyed travelling to, for business or leisure, and why?

I’ve spent a lot of time in North America – not always for the right reasons. I found Salt Lake City in Utah fascinating with the extremes of temperature, desert, magnificent mountains and its interesting culture. It also has some of the best micro-breweries you’ll find anywhere. I didn’t choose to go there but bizarrely I enjoyed it.

When you were a child, what was your ideal job? Why did it appeal?

I had an uncle who was a lawyer in Glasgow and he advised me to be an accountant and although it didn’t really appeal it has been extremely useful in life.

What was your biggest break in business?

I hope the current developments in AorTech will be my biggest break. Being a fund manager and helping different types of companies has been satisfying but I think where we are now is the most exciting because of the people I’m working with.

What was your worst moment in business?

Being a fund manager in 2008 when the markets crashed.

Who do you most admire and why?

Harry Vardon. From a humble background he became golf’s first global superstar.

What book are you reading and what music are you listening to? What was the last film you saw?

I’m reading A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories In Our Genes by Adam Rutherford. It’s a fascinating read. I listen to anything by Billy Joel and was disappointed to miss out on tickets to see him in Manchester. Last film I saw was Lion, about the young Indian boy who gets lost on the streets of Calcutta.

CV

Bill Brown has been advising and investing in small companies for over 20 years. Having qualified as a chartered accountant in 1986, he started a career in venture capital with INVESCO before moving to Baronsmead (which later became Ivory & Sime, Friends Ivory & Sime, then ISIS).

In 1996, he launched the seminal AIM Trust, the first dedicated fund for the AIM market. Mr Brown went on to become head of ISIS’s small company investment teams based in Edinburgh and London before leaving to found Bluehone Investors LLP in 2005. He is a former chairman of the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Advisory Group.