Proliferate - wound care

Both chronic and burns wounds are instantly recognised by the continuous leaching of exudate from the wound. The key purpose of a dressing for these wounds is the removal of this aqueous seepage and moisture retention by covering with a hydrophilic adsorbent material. Collagen based dressings have proved beneficial in these applications because they encourage fibroblast attachment and thereby encourage wound healing. The chronic wound and burns wound healing markets are currently dominated by pig, horse, cow and human collagen-based dressings. These materials carry moral, ethical, and religious burden combined with expensive, laborious manufacturing processes. Spheritech has invented a novel biopolymer, Proliferate, which mimics the biological and physical properties associated with collagen. This new polymer is inexpensive to manufacture in comparison to animal derived collagen and contains no components of animal origin. The aim of this project is to develop Proliferate in sheet form to such a level that it can be CE marked (approved) for wound care. This process will also involve antimicrobial studies using external contractors and development of intermediate scale manufacturing processes. Once CE marked the dressings will initially be marketed to the NHS.