Clinician Reports Fast Healing Of Intractable Wounds Using MEDIHONEY(R)

Main Category: Vascular
Also Included In: Clinical Trials / Drug Trials;  Conferences
Article Date: 30 Apr 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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Derma Sciences (OTC Bulletin Board: DSCI), a provider of advanced wound care products, announced that yesterday at the annual Symposium on the Advances in Wound Care (SAWC) in Dallas, Jason R. Hanft, DPM, Director of Medical Education at Baptist Health South Florida, revealed details of a recently concluded 11-patient venous leg ulcer (VLU) case series involving the use of Derma Sciences' MEDIHONEY(R). Dr. Hanft's presentation was part of the general agenda of the conference, where 24 out of 370 abstracts were selected for oral presentation. In addition, 6 other abstracts dealing with MEDIHONEY were presented at SAWC. SAWC is the largest gathering of multidisciplinary wound-care clinicians in the United States.

The study was a confirmatory case series following a positive large 108-patient randomized controlled study published in 2008 on a similar patient population, all of whom suffered from non-healing VLUs, a particularly painful and difficult-to-heal chronic wound. In the recent case series, 11 patients were enrolled with VLUs that had not healed with other advanced wound care modalities - including the gold standard multi-layered compression, as well as silver antimicrobial dressings, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and antibiotic therapy - for at least 4 months' duration. The study was designed to measure the percentage of wounds that healed in the standard timeframe of 12 weeks, but all 11 wounds healed within 6 weeks, with over half healing within 4 weeks.

According to Dr Hanft, "As renewed interest in the use of sterile, medical-grade honey to achieve wound closure increases, justified by increased scientific and clinical data, the healing potential of MEDIHONEY may serve as a pivotal clinical decision to accelerate the closure of recalcitrant wounds of the lower extremity."

Derma Sciences said that sales of MEDIHONEY continue to increase steadily, most commonly being used on non-healing, chronic wounds. These difficult-to-heal wounds typically comprise about 50% of the wounds affecting an estimated 6.5 million people in the US annually. With an over-the-counter 510K clearance already in place, Derma is completing the development of dressings for the consumer market that would be effective on a wide variety of common wounds, abrasions, and minor burns. As announced previously, these dressings are expected to be in the US retail distribution channel by 2010.

Additional clinical abstracts on the use of MEDIHONEY presented at the SAWC include:

-- Active Leptospermum Honey - A Debriding Alternative (Mary Brennan, North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital, NY)

-- Utilizing Leptospermum Honey in the Treatment of Cutaneous Small Vessel Vasculitis (CSVV) (Mary Allison Hendrickson, Baylor Health Care System, TX)

-- Use of Active Leptospermum Honey Dressings in the Home Care Setting (Tim Larson, Cleveland Clinic, OH)

-- Active Leptospermum Honey: Treatment for Various Lower Extremity Dermatologic Issues (Tracey Vlahovic, Temple University, PA)

-- Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck: Using Active Leptospermum Honey for Wound Management and Odor Control (Scott Moore, Edmund Oncology Center, OK)

-- The use of Active Leptospermum Honey in a variety of non-healing wounds in the Long Term Care Setting (Mary Webb, San Mateo Medical Center, CA)

About Derma Sciences

Derma Sciences is a global manufacturer and marketer of advanced wound care products. Its key product, MEDIHONEY(R), is sold throughout the world by Derma Sciences and Comvita New Zealand -- the licensor of the patented honey-based technology -- and is the leading brand of honey-based dressings for the management of wounds and burns. The product has been shown to be effective in a variety of wounds and burns, and was the focus of a positive large-scale randomized controlled trial on leg ulcers. Derma's recently FDA cleared BIOGUARD(TM) Barrier Dressing is the Company's latest new product entrant into the $14 billion global wound care market. The barrier technology was licensed from Quick-Med Technologies, Inc. in Q1 of 2007. Derma also has in development DSC127, a novel angiotensin analog for accelerated wound healing and scar reduction. DSC127 was licensed from the University of Southern California in Q4 of 2007. Patient enrollment for a Phase II study began in Q4 of 2008. Results from this study are expected to be submitted to the FDA in Q2 of 2010.

Source: Derma Sciences, Inc

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