International recognition highlights TISSIUM’s pioneering approach to atraumatic nerve repair and the potential of its polymer platform
Paris, France, Cambridge, USA, October 16, 2026 – TISSIUM, a clinical and commercial stage MedTech company pioneering biomorphic programmable polymers for Atraumatic Tissue Reconstruction, today announced that TIME has named its COAPTIUM CONNECT System one of the Best Inventions of 2026 in the Medical & Healthcare category.
The recognition underscores the potential of TISSIUM’s proprietary polymer platform to transform tissue reconstruction with atraumatic solutions.
Peripheral nerve injuries affect millions of people worldwide each year, often as a result of traffic or workplace accidents. Conventional repair typically requires microsutures through the nerve’s outer sheath to hold the severed ends together. This procedure technique can itself traumatize delicate nerve tissue. COAPTIUM CONNECT offers a different approach, using a proprietary light-activated, bioabsorbable polymer designed to join nerve ends without penetrating them with sutures.
Christophe Bancel, Co-Founder and CEO of TISSIUM, said: “Being named one of TIME’s Best Inventions recognizes exactly what our team set out to do: give surgeons an innovative way to provide atraumatic nerve repair. This honor belongs as much to the surgeons who have embraced a new technique as it does to our team. Our focus now is putting COAPTIUM CONNECT in the hands of more peripheral nerve surgeons.”
Maria Pereira, Co-Founder, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Innovation Officer of TISSIUM, and co-inventor of the technology, said: “Nerves are among the most delicate tissues a surgeon works with, yet for well over a century they have been repaired with penetrating fixations such as sutures. Our idea was to let the material do the work in a fully atraumatic manner with a polymer designed to behave like tissue, activated by light to provide control to the surgeons. Seeing our platform recognized by TIME is a proud moment for everyone who has worked on it since the earliest days in the lab.”
COAPTIUM CONNECT is supported by first-in-human clinical data published in the Journal of Hand Surgery Global Online in March 2026. In a prospective, single-arm study involving patients with digital nerve injuries, all ten patients who completed 12-month follow-up achieved good or excellent sensory recovery (S3+ or S4), regained full flexion and extension of the affected digit, and reported no pain at 12 months. No device-related complications were observed.
The recognition follows the FDA marketing authorization of COAPTIUM CONNECT in 2025 and the first commercial procedures in the United States, marking an important step in bringing TISSIUM’s atraumatic approach to nerve repair to patients.
TIME’s Best Inventions of 2026 feature on COAPTIUM CONNECT is available at https://time.com/collection/best-inventions/2026/tissium-coaptium-connect/.
***
About TISSIUM
TISSIUM is a clinical and commercial stage MedTech company based in Paris, France, Cambridge, USA, and with a manufacturing site in Roncq, France. The company is pioneering a proprietary platform of fully biosynthetic, biomorphic, programmable, elastomeric polymers designed to address critical unmet needs in atraumatic tissue repair and tissue reconstruction.
TISSIUM’s diversified pipeline includes one commercial product and six products in development across three core therapeutic verticals: atraumatic sutureless nerve repair, atraumatic hernia repair, and cardiovascular sealants. Each solution is designed to optimize tissue repair through controlled and consistent procedures with specialized delivery and activation devices to maximize the performance and usability of its products.
Founded in 2013, TISSIUM is built on breakthrough research and intellectual property originating from the laboratories of Professor Robert Langer (MIT) and Professor Jeffrey M. Karp (Brigham and Women’s Hospital).
For more information, please visit www.TISSIUM.com and follow us on LinkedIn: TISSIUM.
***
Contacts
Investor relations
Romain Attard – Chief Financial Officer
rattard@tissium.com
PR
Attachment
