Penis

Image by Flickr user elsie.esq, CC.

BNET readers will remember that Pfizer entered a $75 million pact with Auxilium for the development of Xiaflex in December 2008. And while the pair are developing the compound for use to combat Dupuytren’s contracture (where patients’ hands contract into claws), everyone knows that the other potential use Xiaflex has is for Peyronie’s disease, or curvature of the penis from a buildup of fibrous tissue in the shaft. You can see Auxilium has a trial ongoing here, and the drug in question, “AA4500,” is the same as that used in the Xiaflex trials here. Read the rest of this entry »

What happened to my willie?

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team said, “Various reconstructive procedures have been attempted to restore a cosmetically acceptable phallus that would allow normal reproductive, sexual, and urinary function in patients requiring penile reconstruction. However, these procedures are limited by a shortage of native penile tissue. We previously demonstrated that a short segment of the penile corporal body can be replaced using naturally derived collagen matrices with autologous cells. In the current study, we examined the feasibility of engineering the entire pendular penile corporal bodies in a rabbit model. Neocorpora were engineered from cavernosal collagen matrices seeded with autologous cells using a multistep static/dynamic procedure, and these were implanted to replace the excised corpora. The bioengineered corpora demonstrated structural and functional parameters similar to native tissue and male rabbits receiving the bilateral implants were able to successfully impregnate females. This study demonstrates that neocorpora can be engineered for total pendular penile corporal body replacement. This technology has considerable potential for patients requiring penile reconstruction.” Read the rest of this entry »