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Derma Sciences CEO, Ed Quilty, stated, "We believe these gauze-baseddressings -- upon their marketing clearance from the FDA -- will represent thefirst real fusion of traditional and advanced wound-care technologies. Asgauze-based dressings, they will remain cost-effective for hospitals and otherwound-care facilities. With their advanced microbicidal and proteaseinhibiting qualities, the dressings will be used on both acute and chronicwounds at risk of infection, a growing concern in the healthcare industry."
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The number of hospital admissions for MRSA has increased rapidly over thelast decade, with a 300 percent increase in 2005 over that of 2000, and a 1000percent increase over that of 1995. In 2005 in the United States alone,368,600 hospital admissions for MRSA resulted in 18,650 deaths. The number ofMRSA fatalities in 2005 surpassed the number of fatalities from hurricaneKatrina and AIDS combined and is substantially higher than fatalities at thepeak of the U.S. polio epidemic. Roughly 42 percent of MRSA infections areconsidered hospital acquired. Of 30 million operations performed annually inthe US, 900,000 are complicated by surgical site infections resulting in costsof up to $10 billion. Beginning this year, hospitals will no longer bereimbursed for their costs associated with treating these hospital-acquiredinfections. The death rate, length of stay, and cost of treating patientswith MRSA are more than double other hospital admissions.
"This marks the third blue ribbon received by the QMT Research Center inthe past three years, and it represents recognition by our peers of thequality of work done by our research team," said Dr. Gerald Olderman, VicePresident of Research & Development for Quick-Med Technologies. "This workwill ultimately form the basis of the development of unique wound-dressingproducts that are targeted at reduced risk of infections and speedierhealing."
Experimental results demonstrate the capacity of a NIMBUS wound dressingto deliver not only strong antimicrobial efficacy but also to bind proteasespreferentially ionically and sequester them within the wound dressing. Thisstrategy permits the control of microbes and the suppression of proteaseactivity without leaching any material into the wound bed, thus eliminatingthe associated interference with the wound-healing process.
The Wound Healing Society offers the Blue Ribbon Industrial Research &Development Award to recognize the best product-oriented research performed byresearch and development scientists within the corporate world. This year, atotal of 11 blue ribbons were awarded including 2 to teams from Quick-MedTechnologies. Other participants at the SAWC/WHS event were prominentcompanies such as Johnson & Johnson Wound Management, 3M Healthcare, KineticConcepts, Inc., and Healthpoint, Ltd., as well as leading educationalinstitutions such as the Harvard Medical School, Stanford University, and theUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
The project team was led by Bernd Liesenfeld[1] and includes GregorySchultz[1,2], John Aseke[2], Olajompo Moloye[2], William Toreki[1], RoyCarr[1], David Moore[1], and Gerald Olderman[1]. ([1]Quick-Med Te
