Confluent Surgical

Confluent Surgical, Inc. operated as a medical device company focused on developing in-situ-polymerized biomaterials.

The company was founded in 1998 by serial entrepreneur Amar Sawhney and Fred Khosravi. Sawhney, who also served as President and CEO, launched the company with a $1 million seed round and began building its core technology. The firm went on to raise a total of $60 million over four funding rounds, including a $23 million Series D in 2005, attracting investors such as TVM Capital, EW Healthcare Partners, and Ascension Ventures.

Confluent Surgical developed a portfolio of surgical sealants and adhesion barrier products designed for use in various surgical procedures. Its flagship product line was the DuraSeal Dural Sealant System, a synthetic, absorbable hydrogel applied as an adjunct to sutures for achieving a watertight closure during cranial and spinal surgeries. The hydrogel is composed of two polyethylene glycol (PEG) based liquids that polymerize within seconds when sprayed onto the surgical site, forming a flexible, adherent seal. A key feature was a blue colorant for better visualization during application. The material is absorbed by the body and cleared through the kidneys after several weeks. Other products included SprayGel, an adhesion barrier system to prevent scar tissue formation after abdominal or pelvic surgery, VascuSeal for vascular reconstructions, and SprayShield.

The company primarily served neurosurgeons and other surgical specialists. A significant milestone was achieved in April 2005, when the FDA approved the DuraSeal system for cranial surgery in the United States. The company also secured CE Mark approval in Europe for its SprayGel and DuraSeal products, the latter for vascular applications.

In August 2006, Confluent Surgical was acquired by the U.S. Surgical division of Tyco International (which later became Covidien) for approximately $245 million. The business continued to operate under Covidien, which launched the DuraSeal Spine Sealant in the U.S. in 2009. In 2012, the product line generated approximately $65 million in revenue. Subsequently, in a move to streamline strategic priorities, Covidien divested the entire Confluent Surgical product line to Integra LifeSciences in a transaction completed in January 2014 for an initial cash payment of $235 million.

Keywords: surgical sealants, dural repair, adhesion barrier, hydrogel technology, biomaterials, neurosurgery devices, absorbable implants, polyethylene glycol, cranial surgery, spinal surgery, vascular sealant, Amar Sawhney, Fred Khosravi, DuraSeal, SprayGel, VascuSeal, Covidien acquisition, Integra LifeSciences acquisition, medical device manufacturing, surgical hemostasis, watertight closure, postoperative care, cerebrospinal fluid leak prevention, tissue sealant, in-situ polymerization