REVOLUTIONIZING HEALING. CHANGING LIVES.
Acera Surgical is a soft-tissue repair company born from research and bold, patient-focused innovation. Founded in 2013 and based in St. Louis, MO, Acera delivers new technology and is revolutionizing patient care.
Acera Surgical is committed to patient safety and providing only the highest quality medical devices on the market.
The Acera Story
In 2009, while an MD / Ph.D. student at Washington University, Matthew MacEwan worked with bioengineering graduate students investigating methods to create novel polymer biomaterials. Matthew was intrigued by the structure and its unique properties and focused his research on the potential use of these fibers in the medical field.
The turning point came in the summer of 2011 when Matthew was first introduced to Agnès Rey-Giraud, a retired Senior Executive and sought after industry leader. Together, they built the business case for a potential product and pursued the path to clinical validation, FDA clearance, and commercialization.
Following successful product tests, the business progressed to the development of Cerafix, a fully synthetic dural repair matrix whose scale and architecture resembles native tissue. In 2016, the device received clearance to be marketed and distributed in the U.S. It was soon followed by Restrata, offering a fully resorbable fully synthetic hybrid-scale matrix for soft-tissue repair. All Acera products are based on the groundbreaking nanofiber technology in which Matthew and Agnès saw such potential and worked to bring to market.
Acera's Mission
Acera’s mission is to set a new standard of excellence in healthcare. We take seriously the trust placed in us by patients and clinicians alike. Our team of pioneers, change agents, innovators, and scientists are bound together by an unrelenting drive to create solutions that make patients’ lives better through the development of revolutionary products that enable healing and enhance quality of life.
Acera's Values
Acera’s core values of compassion, integrity, excellence, collaboration, and boldness have helped build a culture in which the patient takes primary importance. This patient focus guides every aspect of the business, from product development to sales and operations. The revolutionary healing products Acera designs and the uncompromising, patient-focused, business strategy followed challenge the status quo of both treatment methods and industry practices, setting a new standard for excellence.
Interview with Acera
Bill Ruff | VP of Commercialization
Featured Products
RESTRATA®
Restrata is a revolution in soft-tissue repair.
Restrata is a fully-synthetic, fully resorbable, hybrid-scale fiber matrix whose architecture resembles human ECM and supports cell ingrowth, retention, and differentiation. Representing a new approach to the treatment of acute and chronic wounds, Restrata utilizes the advantages of synthetic construction to launch a new era in healing.
Composed of non-woven, resorbable fibers, Restrata’s unique properties enable it to resist enzymatic degradation and persist in the wound bed, providing a porous scaffold for cellular infiltration and vascularization before completely degrading via hydrolysis.
Restrata represents a revolution in soft-tissue repair. Proven to provide healing in refractory wounds, suitable for patients with ethical or religious objections to skin grafts, and without the special storage and handling requirements of traditional biologics, Restrata is a breakthrough in patient care.
CERAFIX®
Cerafix offers unique advantages for dural repair.
Cerafix Dura Substitute is a novel non-biologic graft that is indicated for the repair of dural defects. A synthetic, porous polymer matrix, Cerafix works to eliminate cerebrospinal fluid leakage and prevent post-surgical wound complications2.
In addition to preventing cerebral spinal fluid leakage, Cerafix has the additional benefit of supporting new tissue ingrowth. In cases where dural closure is critical to a successful surgical outcome, Cerafix has been shown to support healing and prevent leakage without the risks involved with biologics, such as the transmission of diseases or the risk of adverse reactions to foreign material.
Designed based on the scale and stucture of human extracellular matrix (ECM), Cerafix offers a unique alternative to existing dural substitutes with distinct advantages that may improve patient outcomes.
COVORA®
Covora is a single-use, resorbable, hybrid-scale fiber matrix for use in the treatment of partial thickness burns.
Composed of synthetic hybrid-scale fibers, Covora’s structure is similar to native ECM. The hybrid-scale fibers form a soft, conformable, non-friable healing matrix. Covora’s high porosity matrix supports the body’s natural healing process, providing a scaffold for cellular infiltration. As cells spread into the defect space, new soft-tissue forms in the wound bed, and has been shown to develop pigmentation similar to the skin’s natural pigmentation.
Covora supports healing with a defined resorption rate engineered to occur at a rate similar to the body’s healing of the damaged area. Covora provides a porous scaffold for cellular infiltration and vascularization before completely degrading via hydrolysis. Covora represents a new era in partial thickness burn treatment.
Leadership Team
Agnès Rey-Giraud | CEO
Agnès Rey-Giraud is the co-CEO of Acera Surgical. Agnès is former officer at Express Scripts, where she held various leadership roles, including Senior Vice President of Research & Product Development, Executive Vice President of Supply Chain and President of International Operations, Agnès earned an MBA from the University of Chicago, a Master of Operations Management from EM Lyon, France, and a Master of Science degree in engineering from ENISE, France.
Jake Wilson | CEO
Jake Wilson is the co-CEO of Acera Surgical. A registered pharmacist and long-time pharmaceutical professional, Jake spent 12 years at Express Scripts and was a division sales manager at Cardinal Health, after which he acquired, expanded, and sold a Midwest pharmacy company. Jake holds a master’s degree in Business Administration.
Matthew MacEwan, PhD | CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER
Dr. Matthew MacEwan is Chief Science Officer at Acera Surgical. A doctoral graduate of Washington University in St. Louis where he began the nanofiber research that would one day become Acera, Matthew holds a patent for the bipolar sieve electrode and method of assembly. He has authored or co-authored three peer-reviewed articles on the topics of nanofibers, nerve regeneration, and cardiomyocytes in the phase-separated state.
