Tissue Regenix further advances US commercialisation strategy through Community Tissue Services partnership
18 June 2013 - Tissue Regenix ('TRX'), the British regenerative medical device company, today announces it has signed a processing partnership with Community Tissue Services in the United States.
Community Tissue Services is one of the largest tissue banks in the United States, distributing over 230,000 grafts for transplant annually. Under the terms of the partnership, Community Tissue Services will use Tissue Regenix's patented dCELL® technology to produce human biological scaffolds initially for use in acute and chronic wound care but ultimately to expand to cover other areas of clinical need.
Tissue Regenix's dCELL® dermis works by taking human donor skin and removing the DNA and cells, using the patented dCELL® process to leave a dermis matrix that can be placed over the wound to aid natural healing by attracting the patient's own cells to the wound area.
Recently completed trials in the UK with NHS Blood and Transplant ('NHSBT') have shown that patients who have had tough chronic wounds for 4 ½ years who were treated with Tissue Regenix dCELL® Dermis have seen an 87% reduction in the size of all wounds, while 60% of patients were completely healed with virtually no recurrences.
In the US, chronic wounds affect 6.5 million patients at a cost of care greater than $25bn. The partnership with Community Tissue Services will allow Tissue Regenix to create dCELL® Dermis products in order to target the existing $1.4bn market for wound healing devices & equipment, which is anticipated to reach $1.5bn by 2016.
Greg Bila, President of Tissue Regenix Wound Care Inc. said: "We are delighted to announce this partnership with Community Tissue Services. This agreement will allow Tissue Regenix to advance our development and commercialisation of dCELL® Dermis. We are excited to begin providing our dCELL® technology to physicians and clinicians who treat patients suffering from chronic and acute wounds. Many people who suffer with chronic wounds often do so for many years. Conventional treatments may not be as effective and statistics show that some patients are readmitted to the hospital due to infection or other complications associated with the wound failing to heal properly."
Greg Bila continues, "Recent studies show that dCELL® dermis is easy to apply and may require less time for the busy physician compared to other dermis products used today. The dCELL® dermis does not require storage on dry ice and does not require re-hydration or special set up before application. In the recent study conducted at the University Hospital of South Manchester, dCELL® dermis was successfully applied to patients in as little as 30-40 minutes."
Dr. David M. Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Community Tissue Services said: "We are extremely excited to partner with Tissue Regenix. Tissue Regenix's dCELL® Dermis will offer the latest technology in wound care management to patients suffering from acute and chronic wounds."
Antony Odell, Managing Director of Tissue Regenix commented: "Tissue Regenix's partnership with Community Tissue Services will enable us to bring the benefit of dCELL® technology to address a wide range of patient needs. This is an important step in our global commercialisation strategy and is a first step in bringing the benefits of dCELL® Technology to the US. We remain on course for a US commercial launch of dCELL® Dermis in the first half of 2014."
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For Further Information
Tissue Regenix Wound Care Inc: +1 210 347 8302
Greg Bila
Tissue Regenix Group plc: +44 1904 435 176
Antony Odell
Jefferies International Ld. +44 20 7029 8000
Simon Hardy
Harry Nicholas
Newgate Communications +44 207 6806550
Alistair Kellie
Andrew Adie
Andrew Jones
About Tissue Regenix
Tissue Regenix is a leading medical devices company in the field of regenerative medicine. The company's patented decellularisation ('dCELL®) technology removes DNA and other cellular material from animal and human tissue leaving an acellular tissue scaffold which is not rejected by the patient's body which can then be used to repair diseased or worn out body parts. The potential applications of this process are diverse and address many critical clinical needs such as vascular disease, heart valve replacement and knee repair.
Tissue Regenix was formed in 2006 when it was spun-out from the University of Leeds. The company commercialises academic research conducted by our partners around the World.
In November 2012 Tissue Regenix Group plc set up a subsidiary company in the United States- 'Tissue Regenix Wound Care Inc.', as part of its commercialisation strategy for its dCELL® technology platform.
Community Tissue Services
Community Tissue Services, a not-for-profit tissue bank, is an ethical provider of services to donor families, medical communities, recipients, and community partners through recovery, processing and distribution of tissue grafts. Community Tissue Services complies with guidelines and regulations with the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB), Food and Drug and Administration (FDA) and many other state health department regulations.
