CellTran sees positive trials

SHEFFIELD University spin-out CellTran today announced positive results for trials of its Myskin product for treating burns and chronic wounds.

The biotechnology company said that controlled trials of Myskin to treat diabetic foot ulcers demonstrated that more than 85% of the wounds benefited from the treatment with half healling fully.

Treating such wounds costs the National Health Service more than £10,000 per patient every year.

Myskin transfers a patient's own skin cells to the wound and CellTran is looking to develop the range of cell types it can deliver to treat chronic wounds including burns, diabetic ulcers, leg ulcers and surgical wounds.

Commenting on the clinical study, Mal Jarmolowicz, chief executive of CellTran, said: “We continue to see the benefits of using cells in chronic and difficult to heal wounds. This study clearly demonstrates that Myskinhas a great deal of potential for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers that have not

responded to conventional treatments.”

Professor Sheila MacNeil, head of research at CellTran, added: 'In the field of regenerative medicine it is important to demonstrate that Myskin, a cell-based product, has real and demonstrable benefits to offer patients with challenging wounds, particularly those with diabetic foot ulcers. Patients with chronic wounds often spend many months or even years attending wound care clinics without achieving healing of their ulcers. We are therefore delighted that this trial has been so successful, with half of the patients involved achieving a fully healed ulcer after only 10 weeks of treatment.”

CellTran was established in 2000 by wound-healing specialist Professors Sheila MacNeil and Robert Short at the University of Sheffield.