Healthcare Industry News: Extracellular Matrix
News Release - March 23, 2009
Medline Introduces MatriStem(TM) Extracellular Matrix That Taps Body's Own Capabilities to Repair Tissue
Advanced Wound Care Product Encourages the Body to Heal Wounds With New Tissue Instead of Forming Scar TissueMUNDELEIN, IL--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)--Mar 23, 2009 -- Medline Industries, Inc., today announced the launch of MatriStem Extracellular Matrix Wound Sheet, a new cutting-edge wound care technology that acts as a microscopic "scaffold" to encourage wound healing.
In the human body, the Extracellular Matrix is a key regulator of cell adhesion, migration, proliferation and differentiation during skin tissue repair.(1) MatriStem, a parchment-like sheet made from specific layers of pig bladder, is a natural Extracellular Matrix that can be applied to the site of an injury or damaged skin in order to encourage the body's own capabilities to repair and restore tissue.
"When there is a severe wound on the body, signals released by dead and dying cells trigger a host response that includes inflammation and the formation of scar tissue, which impedes the body's ability to perform site-specific tissue repair," said Thomas Gilbert, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh and faculty member at The McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. "MatriStem facilitates wound healing by establishing an environment at the injury site that modulates the immune response and recruits a population of cells that are capable of healing the wound with new tissue instead of forming a scar."
Placed in a wound bed, MatriStem provides a three-dimensional structural scaffold for cells and utilizes a specialized structure known as the basement membrane, which acts as a medium through which epithelial cells rebuild themselves. The MatriStem Extracellular Matrix facilitates wound healing by providing an environment to support replenishment of new tissue cells at the wound site.
Wound care management of partial and full-thickness wounds such as diabetic, venous, arterial and pressure ulcers, surgical and trauma wounds, and first- and second-degree burns is costly and labor intensive. The MatriStem Extracellular Matrix Wound Sheet can be used for management of these conditions. Wound care products, along with the additional costs associated with potential complications such as infection, extended physician care and lengthy hospital stay, cost the U.S. healthcare system over $7 billion in 2007.(2) Chronic dermal ulcerations, for example, can cost as much as $40,000 each to heal, and one study showed that 50% reappear within 18 months of healing.(3)
References
(1) SOO, CHIA, SHAW W. W, XINLI ZHANG, LONGAKER T. M, HOWARD W. E, and KANG TING. "Differential expression of matrix metalloproteinases and their tissue-derived inhibitors in cutaneous wound repair." Plastic and reconstructive surgery 105 (2000): 638-47.
(2) "'Active' Products Drive Wound-Care Market." Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News - Biotechnology from Bench to Business. 23 Mar. 2009 http://www.genengnews.com/articles/chitem.aspx?aid=2459&chid=0.
(3) Bergstrom, N. et al., U.S. Dept. Health and Human Services, Clinical Practice Guideline, vol. 15 (1994).
About Medline Industries, Inc.
Medline, headquartered in Mundelein, IL, manufactures and distributes more than 100,000 products to hospitals, extended care facilities, surgery centers, home care dealers and agencies and other markets. Total revenue for Medline in 2008 exceeded $3.1 billion. Meeting national and international quality standards, Medline is FDA QSR compliant and ISO 13485 certified. Medline serves on major industry quality committees to develop guidelines and standards for medical product use, including the FDA Midwest Steering Committee, AAMI Sterilization and Packaging Committee, and various ASTM committees. For more information on Medline, visit our Web site, www.medline.com.
About ACell
ACell, headquartered in Columbia, MD, offers a range of medical devices based on its patented and proprietary Extracellular Matrix technologies. MatriStem devices have received FDA clearances for applications in wound care and general surgery. The devices are manufactured in ACell's cGMP facility based in Lafayette, IN. For more information on ACell, visit http://www.acell.com/.
Source: Medline Industries
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