Biodegradable gel to stop bleeding will soon be on the market
A new company, Arch Therapeutics, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is soon planning to begin clinical trials of a nanostructured material with the ability to stop bleeding almost instantly. The company bought a license for this material from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is currently developing an industrial-scale production process.
The first application submitted by the company to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be devoted to obtaining permission to use the new material to prevent and quickly stop bleeding during surgical interventions. According to Arch Therapeutics scientific expert Floyd Loop, this material can be useful in various surgical interventions, including operations on the brain, heart, prostate gland.
In addition to reducing the time to stop bleeding, the new approach can improve the results of surgical interventions, especially when removing large tumors, when it takes a very long time to stop extensive diffuse bleeding by traditional methods.
The new material has a long shelf life and theoretically can become an indispensable component of first aid kits. In addition, it is rapidly broken down in the body and, unlike other hemostatic agents, does not need to be removed. However, additional testing is needed to confirm its effectiveness in "non-surgical" conditions.
The material, a synthetic peptide, was created by scientists in the early 90s, but its ability to stop blood was discovered only a few years ago. Rutledge Ellis-Behnke, an employee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studied the possibility of using a peptide to accelerate the recovery of brain damage.
When conducting experiments on animals, he applied a peptide-containing solution to the injury area, which led to an almost instantaneous (within a few seconds) stop of bleeding. In 2006, Arch Therapeutics was founded, whose specialists devoted their activities to the development of commercially suitable versions of the new material. Last month, the company made its first public statement about the end of the process of obtaining a license agreement for the new technology.
The material consists of amino acids combined into chains, which, when exposed to a moist salt-containing medium, are instantly structured to form long fibers. The fibers form a mesh structure that acts as a physical barrier to the outflow of blood and other fluids.
Arch Therapeutics specialists are currently completing animal experiments and preparing for clinical trials. They believe that it is more appropriate to present a new material acting as a physical barrier as a medical device than as a drug, because this can speed up obtaining official approval.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of TechnologyReview
14.05.2008