TIME Names TISSIUM's COAPTIUM CONNECT a Best Invention of 2026 in Medical & Healthcare

TISSIUM announced on October 16, 2026 that TIME has named its COAPTIUM CONNECT System one of the Best Inventions of 2026 in the Medical & Healthcare category. The company said the light-activated, bioabsorbable polymer is designed to join nerve ends without penetrating them with sutures. TISSIUM is a clinical and commercial stage MedTech company based in Paris, France, and Cambridge, USA, with a manufacturing site in Roncq, France. The announcement was distributed by GlobeNewswire.

How TIME Recognized COAPTIUM CONNECT

TIME's Best Inventions of 2026 feature on COAPTIUM CONNECT is available on TIME's website. TISSIUM said the recognition underscores the potential of its 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, and conventional repair typically requires microsutures through the nerve's outer sheath to hold the severed ends together.

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."

The Clinical Data Behind the Device

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.

TIME's Reach and Recent Moves

TIME is a global media brand with an audience of more than 100 million people worldwide across its platforms, according to akta.pro company records. The same records show a social media footprint of over 51 million followers and a headcount of more than 300 employees across North America, Asia, and Europe. TIME was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in New York.

Other TIME Best Inventions Recognitions

TIME named several other products to its Best Inventions of 2026 list on October 15 and October 16, 2026. Natera announced its Signatera MRD test was named to the list in the Medical & Healthcare category, according to Stock Titan. Withings announced its BodyScan 2, priced at $599.95, was named to the list, according to PR Newswire. Meta's Omnilingual Automatic Speech Recognition system was named to the list, according to Crypto Briefing.

What Comes Next for TISSIUM

TISSIUM said its focus now is putting COAPTIUM CONNECT in the hands of more peripheral nerve surgeons. The company's pipeline includes one commercial product and six products in development across atraumatic sutureless nerve repair, atraumatic hernia repair, and cardiovascular sealants.