YAVNE, Israel, Nov. 18, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MediWound Ltd. (Nasdaq:MDWD), a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company bringing innovative therapies to address unmet needs in severe burn and wound management, announces that an abstract highlighting the merits of NexoBrid® in the management of burns in mass casualty incidents was selected as “Best Poster” at the International Disaster and Military Medicine (DiMiMED) 4th Annual Conference, held November 15-16 in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The poster, titled “The role of rapid & effective enzymatic debridement/escharotomy in burn mass casualties' incidents,” was delivered by Prof. Lior Rosenberg, MediWound's Chief Medical Officer and former head of the International Society of Burn Injury disaster committee. The prize was awarded by the co-chairmen of the conference, Dr. Christoph Büttner, MC Dr, Rear Admiral uh (ret), Editor-in-chief of Medical Corps International Forum, Germany and Dr. Rob van der Meer, MD, Brigadier General (ret), Former Surgeon General of the Netherlands Armed Forces.
The poster highlights how NexoBrid's debridement and enzymatic escharotomy can reduce surgical burden, dependency on highly trained surgeons and scarce surgical facilities. NexoBrid provides rapid and selective, nonsurgical removal of the eschar at the patient's bedside, resolves or possibly prevents Burn Induced Compartment Syndrome (BICS), which currently requires immediate surgical intervention, and enables early visual diagnosis of burn severity. Collectively these contribute to increased surge capacity, and possibly reduced mortality and morbidity as well as faster resilience.
“We are delighted that the role of NexoBrid in the management of mass casualty incidents continues to be acknowledged by thought-leading organizations such as the DiMiMED and the International Conference on Healthcare System Preparedness and Response to Emergencies and Disasters. Recognition has also come from important government agencies and officials such as the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the president and government officials of Romania, following the Colectiv nightclub disaster,” noted Gal Cohen, President and Chief Executive Officer of MediWound.
"Unfortunately, mass casualty incidents are not limited to acts of war or urban terror. There are civilian mass casualties as we have seen recently with the explosions at a Chinese chemical plant, and at an amusement park in Taiwan, each of which resulted in hundreds of burn victims. Even a multivehicle road accident could challenge burn treatment capacity and turn into a mass casualty incident. We look forward to working with various international agencies and with governments to advance the use of NexoBrid for mass casualty and disaster preparedness, as well as in military medicine,” added Mr. Cohen.
According to Prof. Rosenberg, "Burn Induced Compartment Syndrome is characterized by severe high pressure in the compartment, which results in insufficient blood supply to muscles and nerves. It is a medical emergency that requires immediate surgical intervention. On one hand, if left untreated, the lack of blood supply leads to permanent muscle and nerve damage and can result in the loss of limb function. On the other hand, if escharotomy is not done by highly trained personnel, it could result in permanent damage to vital structures such as nerves and tendons, leading to impaired long-term functionality and permanent long linear scars.
“During the NexoBrid Phase 3 study, no escharotomies were done in deeply burned hands treated with NexoBrid, versus 9.8% in deeply burned hands treated by standard of care. In fact, during NexoBrid’s clinical development more than 130 extremities treated with NexoBrid did not require escharotomies,” added Prof. Rosenberg. “This is imperative in the management of mass casualty incidents as extremities are the most frequently burned area, and if deeply burned are most likely to develop BICS. Not only can NexoBrid rapidly remove eschar and allow burn severity diagnosis, but it may avoid the need for immediate escharotomy. It is important to note that in routine burn care as well, surgical debridement and escharotomy are among the most traumatic surgical procedures and are challenging for both the care provider and patient. As demonstrated, NexoBrid nonsurgical debridement can significantly reduce such surgical burden.”
About DiMiMED
DiMiMED is the International Conference on Disaster and Military Medicine focussing on current issues in military medicine and disaster medicine. The disasters taking place all over the world have shown that it is absolutely essential for civilian medical services and the military medical services to join forces to provide optimum on-site medical care. In addition to civilian medical services, the medical services of the armed forces are increasingly used to deal with disasters. DiMiMED provides a platform for exchanging experiences, holding discussions and for promoting global cooperation. The DiMiMED conference is organized by the Beta Group / Beta Verlag & Marketinggesellschaft mbH, under the auspices of the Medical Corps International Forum and powered by MEDICA / Messe Düsseldorf GmbH.
About NexoBrid
NexoBrid is an easy-to-use, topically-applied product that removes dead or damaged tissue, known as eschar, in approximately four hours without harming the surrounding healthy tissues. NexoBrid received marketing authorization from the European Medicines Agency for the removal of eschar in adults with deep partial and full-thickness thermal burns, is commercially available in Europe and Israel and will be launched in Argentina in the coming months. Representing a new paradigm in burn care management, NexoBrid demonstrated in clinical studies, with statistical significance, its ability to non-surgically and rapidly remove the eschar earlier than other modalities, without harming viable tissues. The removal of eschar or “debridement” is a critical first step in the successful healing of severe burns and chronic and other hard-to-heal wounds. With the current standard of care, burn eschar is removed either with existing topical agents that have been found to be minimally effective or that take a significantly longer period of time to work, or by resorting to non-selective surgery, which is traumatic and may result in loss of blood and viable tissue necessitating further surgical treatments. The U.S. Phase 3 clinical trial and registration process for NexoBrid is being funded in whole or in part with federal funds under a contract with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.
About MediWound Ltd.
MediWound is a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing novel therapeutics based on its patented proteolytic enzyme technology to address unmet needs in the fields of severe burns, chronic and other hard-to-heal wounds. MediWound’s first innovative biopharmaceutical product, NexoBrid, received marketing authorization from the European Medicines Agency as well as the Israeli and Argentinian Ministries of Health, for removal of dead or damaged tissue, known as eschar, in adults with deep partial and full-thickness thermal burns and was launched in Europe and Israel, with plans for a launch in Argentina. NexoBrid represents a new paradigm in burn care management, and clinical trials have demonstrated, with statistical significance, its ability to non-surgically and rapidly remove the eschar earlier and, without harming viable tissues.
MediWound's second innovative product, EscharEx® is a topical biological drug being developed for debridement of chronic and other hard-to-heal wounds and is complementary to the large number of existing wound healing products, which require a clean wound bed in order to heal the wound. EscharEx® contains the same proteolytic enzyme technology as NexoBrid®, and benefits from the wealth of existing development data on NexoBrid®. In two Phase 2 studies, EscharEx® has demonstrated safety and efficacy in the debridement of chronic and other hard-to-heal wounds, within a few daily applications. For more information, please visit www.mediwound.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, such as statements regarding assumptions and results related to the regulatory authorizations and launch dates. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “expect,” “predict,” “potential,” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on MediWound’s current knowledge and its present beliefs and expectations regarding possible future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors. In particular, you should consider the risks discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015 and information contained in other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this announcement and MediWound undertakes no obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as otherwise required by law.
| Contacts: | Anne Marie Fields | |
| Sharon Malka | Senior Vice President | |
| Chief Financial and Operations Officer | LHA | |
| MediWound | 212-838-3777 | |
| ir@mediwound.co.il | afields@lhai.com |