PolyNovo commences wound treatment trial

Calzada (ASX:CZD) subsidiary PolyNovo Biomaterials has kicked off a human clinical trial for its biodegradable temporising matrix (BTM) wound treatment technology.

The company has commenced recruitment for the first human trial using its NovoSorb BTM product as an implant to treat full thickness wounds including burns.

NovoSorb is a polymer with potential applications in treating burns and full thickness wounds, as well as tissue repair, orthopaedic procedures and cardiovascular stents.

It is being developed in conjunction with associate professor John Greenwood, director of the Adult Burns unit at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The initial human trial will take place at this hospital, and will involve 10 patients undergoing a free flap donor site repair.

Greenwood said concentrating on this surgical procedure will give the company a chance to assess BTM's efficacy in a more controlled environment than a major, deep burn injury.

“The free flap donor site is an excellent model of full-thickness skin 'loss' and one in which I expect the BTM will generate a ... functionally better result than the current treatment of skin grafting alone,” he said.

During the trial, BTM will be implanted close to the donor site.

If all goes according to plan, after 14 days a surgeon will close the wound by applying a skin graft on the new dermal tissue created by the BTM. Patients will then be periodically assessed for wound quality, measurement and graft quality.

Current dermal regeneration treatments are only used in life-threatening cases due partly to the high costs involved. But the company hopes that NovoSorb's advantages, including resistance to infection, could lead to increased adoption of the treatments.

In February, PolyNovo commenced a separate human trial of NovoSorb as a TNP (topical negative pressure) dressing in vacuum assisted closure (CAV) of pressure sores.

In this open label trial, ten patients will be treated with the NovoSorb TNP dressing, and ten with control dressing Granufoam.

Calzada (ASX:CZD) shares were trading at $0.058 as of 12.30pm Thursday.