Queensland invention could heal the world faster
A world-first product developed at QUT to speed up the healing of wounds and burns has huge market potential.
A team of medical researchers led by Dr Zee Upton at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has discovered a special combination of proteins with potential to repair tissues twice as fast as the body's natural system.
The breakthrough product, currently being commercialised as VitroGro (Registered Trade Mark), is designed to speed up the repair of major wounds from burns, accidents or surgery. It could also aid the healing of chronic ulcers in diabetics and bedridden patients.
"VitroGro, is unique because it enables us to cultivate cells faster and more safely and helps cells stick and grow at the wound site," Dr Upton said.
Interest in the technology is so strong that Tissue Therapies Limited, the company which holds the licence to produce VitroGro, closed its initial $3.5 million public share offering two weeks early.
Dr Upton said the market potential is huge. "Sixty to 80 per cent of home care is related to looking after wounds. In Australia alone, there are 20,000 hip replacements a year. VitroGro may reduce the number of failures and speed up patient recovery."
"In Australia there are 2,500 amputations a year, many of them necessitated by non-healing wounds.
"Our ultimate goal is to have a Bio-Active Bandage you can pull off the supermarket shelf."
Tissue Therapies is working with the Royal Children's Hospital Burns Research Group to develop VitroGro%AE for more effective treatment of paediatric burns. The QUT Research Team is working with Australian Red Cross Blood Service to develop a new "spray on skin" formulation to improve the speed of skin graft growth both in the laboratory and on a patient's body.
Dr Upton likes QUT's focus on teams and believes that teams-based research is the way the best outcomes will be delivered in the future.
She is also excited about the Smart State's vibrant biotech community. "Queensland is a fantastic place to be working in biotechnology right now but the critical next step is to deliver outcomes and revenues from start-ups."
Dr Upton obtained her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Adelaide. In 1995, she was awarded the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Progen Fellowship and in 2002 was one of three finalists in the ComBio Invitrogen Life Sciences Award.
Information:
www.te.qut.edu.au
www.tissuetherapies.com