10014397Development of a regenerative dermal scaffold for accelerated wound reconstructionClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKSkin is a vital organ of our body, forming the interface with the outside world in many different ways. The continuous growth of the upper, epidermal layer of skin, with regenerative potential, is essential to maintaining the skin barrier through life. However, in case of severe injury (deep to full-thickness wounds and burns) the underlying dermis needs intervention, to minimise scarring. Modern tissue regeneration techniques, mostly consisting in skin transplantation and synthetic/biological scaffolds, have substantially reduced the mortality rate of patients due to complications, nonetheless the results obtained are still far from optimal especially in terms of complete wound healing, infection and aesthetic or functional scar outcomes. **Slow regeneration**, **poor vascularisation** and **deposition of scar tissue** are the biggest problems of wound healing. Products currently on the market do not improve the wound healing process as much could be achieved. Moreover, when the TBSA (_total body surface area_) affected by the wound is particularly extensive or involves portions of the body with an important aesthetic and identifying role for the patient (especially the face), a sub-optimal success of the treatment may result in **psychological issues for the patient** (e.g., depression), which will require psychological support to overcome dramatic events of this magnitude. The length of the convalescence and the number of operations he will have to undergo to reach full recovery impacts the patient's morale. Reducing the healing time, optimizing the vascularisation of the reconstructed areas and consequently improving the aesthetic outcomes of the operations would **significantly improve the patient's overall rehabilitation and long-term quality of life.** OXARTIS aims to solve these problems through addressing the wound biology: an innovative new off-the-shelf scaffold based on proteins of human origin has been developed, which interacts with cells from the body, to **accelerate the early stage of wound repair**, **promoting blood capillary growth** and organising new tissue to **avoid scar formation**. The project will enable us to optimize and lock in the current chemical formulation of the scaffold and perform a comprehensive panel of pre-clinical tests on our product to prove the safety and improved outcomes of the final product. The goal of the project is to **obtain regulatory approval to proceed to clinical testing.** This will allow us to conduct a clinical trial, in the Pinderfields burns centre, Sheffield. This will enable us to gain regulatory approval to bring our product to market, and improve the lives of thousands of patients.