BD Completes PREVENT Trial Enrolment for Phasix Mesh

BD (Becton Dickinson) has completed enrolment in the PREVENT clinical trial evaluating its Phasix resorbable mesh for preventing incisional hernias after open abdominal surgery. Announced on 12 August 2026, the trial has enrolled 477 patients across 32 sites in the US and Europe, comparing Phasix with primary suture closure and setting up BD to pursue an expanded FDA-authorised indication for prophylactic use in elective open midline laparotomy surgery.

The PREVENT trial will follow patients through a primary endpoint at 24 months post-surgery. Incisional hernia is a serious and relatively common postoperative complication of elective abdominal surgeries involving large abdominal wall incisions, and Phasix’s expansion into prophylactic use would substantially broaden its addressable market beyond its existing hernia repair indication. Phasix originated with CR Bard, which BD acquired for $24 billion in 2017, and received FDA clearance in 2015 for indications including hernia repair. BD has previously faced lawsuits over adverse events allegedly linked to Bard meshes made from other materials.

Rian Seger, worldwide president of surgery at BD, framed the trial as building on decades of innovation in abdominal wall surgery and generating evidence to broaden the role of regenerative technologies for patients at risk of post-surgical complications. The company characterised the enrolment completion as a significant milestone in its advanced tissue regeneration strategy and expansion efforts. In its recent Q3 FY26 earnings, BD reported double-digit growth in the Surgery unit’s infection prevention and advanced tissue regeneration products, with CEO Thomas Polen citing ongoing clinical trials pushing biomaterial into new indications as a driver of strong future growth.

The commercial signal is a growing surgical mesh category being reshaped by resorbable biomaterials and expanding prophylactic use cases. Successfully demonstrated hernia prevention would open a substantial commercial adjacency for BD in surgery. Expect Medtronic (Parietex, Symbotex), Baxter, Integra LifeSciences, W.L. Gore and Ethicon to sharpen their positioning in resorbable and biosynthetic hernia meshes through the rest of 2026 and 2027.

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