New Products and Industry News

Potential ulcer treatment approved

  Tissue Therapies Limited (Brisbane, Australia) has gained approval from the Trafalgar Ethics Board in Toronto, Canada to proceed with human clinical trials of VitroGro® for the treatment of diabetic and venous ulcers.

  The product is a complex of naturally occurring proteins and has been shown to stimulate the growth of human skin cells around non-healing ulcers. The company hopes to develop the product to accelerate the healing of diabetic ulcers, which could result in a substantial reduction in amputations.

  The trial will be conducted by wound care expert R. Gary Sibbald, MD and the Study Monitor will be Dr. Douglas Queen. The Trafalgar Ethics Board approval follows the Health Canada January 2008 notification that the formal regulatory classification of the product is a Class IV Device and not as a pharmaceutical or a lower Class Device.

  For more information, visit www.tissuetherapies.com.

Software utilized in one million wound assessments

  Net Health Systems, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA) has announced that clients utilized WoundExpert® software to document one million wound assessments in 2007, supporting reimbursement for nearly $400 million in health services.

  The product is an outcomes tracking and risk management system for inpatient, visiting, and telemedicine environments and is available as a fully integrated electronic medical record for wound centers. The product now provides benchmarking abilities for 340,000 healed wounds.

  For more information, visit www.woundexpert.com.

Medical device manufacturer selects distributor

  Trio Healthcare Ltd. (Marietta, GA), a UK-based supplier of advanced silicone based medical devices for stoma care, incontinence care, and wound care applications, has chosen TTS Medical as their exclusive distributor for the US and Canadian markets. Hypoallergenic Silesse™ creates a comfortable but durable barrier between the skin and the medical adhesive used in adhering stoma pouches, sheath catheters, and wound care dressings and tapes, which protects the skin from exudates and adhesives. Niltac™, a silicone-based technology, releases the adhesives in dressings and tapes in seconds to easily disable all medical adhesives without causing pain or trauma.

  The combined use of both Silesse™ and Niltac™ can result in improved quality of life for patients reliant on medical adhesives for their particular pathology. The products have been used on patients with EB with tremendous success.

  For additional information on the Silesse™ and Niltac™ product line, please call (678) 391-6570 or email stephenohare@tunkeytrading.net.

Wound dressing company gains new funds and staff

  PolyRemedy, Inc. (Mountain View, CA), maker of a robotic system for the delivery of nanomaterial based wound dressings, announced it closed a $25 million investment from leading venture capital firms.

  The Series B financing was co-led by Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV; Palo Alto, CA) and IDG Ventures Boston, but also included participation from Series A investor, MedVenture Associates (Emeryville, CA), and new investor Harris & Harris Group, Inc. New York.

  For more information, visit www.polyremedy.com.