NORTHRIDGE, CA and PERTH, AUSTRALIA and LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM—(Marketwired – Oct 19, 2016) – Avita Medical Ltd, (
ASX
:
AVH
) (
OTCQX
:
AVMXY
), a regenerative medicine company specialising in new treatments for wounds and skin defects, has identified distribution partners for its medical devices in South Africa and the three Benelux nations, the Company said today.
Avita said the appointments followed detailed due diligence of both new distributors, which included favourable evaluations of the considerable potential of these differing markets. The Company is gradually expanding its international footprint, with 17 countries now covered under its distributor network, whose members must show demonstrable reach into the woundcare sector and the ability to sell breakthrough medical devices.
In South Africa, Baroque Medical, an importer and distributor of surgical and medical devices, will initially focus on the country's sizable burns sector. South Africa's health care system annually treats approximately 1.5 million burns patients, making it one of the world's largest per capita burns populations. Within this group, some 230,000 are rated as moderate to severe, and would be regarded by Avita as appropriate for ReCell® treatment. Baroque Medical has already introduced ReCell® to major public and private hospital burns units, such as the Burns Unit of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg, the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Western Cape, and the Nelspruit Mediclinic in Mpumalanga. As part of Baroque's clinical evaluation, doctors have used ReCell® to treat large burns on six patients, all of whom are reported to be healing well. Baroque Medical recently unveiled ReCell® at a national meeting of the Association of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons of Southern Africa.
“ReCell® is a hugely innovative product, and we are very excited about how surgeons can deploy it, especially for larger body surface area burns that require hospitalisation,” said Jason Thompson National Sales Manager – Advanced Wound Care of Baroque Medical. ”We have a very high prevalence of burn injuries in South Africa, and there are many acute cases that would benefit from this life–changing technology.”
Avita has also agreed to commercial terms with LD Medical, a Belgium–based medical devices company that has experience in burns and trauma response in its distribution across Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg. LD Medical will initially focus on three major Burns centers in the Netherlands and four in Belgium, including the Military Burns Center Reine Elisabeth in Brussels. Belgium burns centers treat approximately 1,000 patients a year. Clinical evaluations of ReCell® have commenced, and LD Medical CEO Luc De Myttenaere said initial feedback from surgeons and patients had been very positive.
“South Africa and the Benelux countries, whilst different in their prospects, both represent particular opportunities to bring the benefits of our ReCell® devices to patients,” said Avita Medical's CEO, Adam Kelliher. “We are confident that we have found the right partners in these territories, and that they will be able to explain to medical professionals the verities of our breakthrough approach to wound healing.”
Avita Medical provides clinical support to its distributors sales teams, to help in their interactions with medical professionals. Over the past year, Avita has escalated its commercialization activities with new distributors appointed in the UK, Germany, France, China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Iran.
ABOUT AVITA MEDICAL LIMITED
Avita Medical develops and distributes regenerative products for the treatment of a broad range of wounds, scars and skin defects. Avita's patented and proprietary collection and application technology provides innovative treatment solutions derived from a patient's own skin. The Company's regenerative product portfolio includes ReCell® for burns & plastic reconstructive procedures, ReGenerCell® for chronic wounds and ReNovaCell® of restoration of pigmentation and cosmesis. ReCell®, ReGenerCell® and ReNovaCell® are patented, CE‐marked for Europe. ReCell® is TGA‐registered in Australia, and CFDA‐cleared in China. In the United States, ReCell® is an investigational device limited by federal law to investigational use, and a pivotal U.S. approval trial is underway.
To learn more, visit www.avitamedical.com.
AVITA'S REGENERATIVE TECHNOLOGY AND RES™
Avita Medical's unique proprietary technology enables a clinician to rapidly create, at the point of care in approximately 30 minutes, Regenerative Epithelial Suspension (RES™) using a small sample of the patient's skin. RES™ is an autologous suspension comprising the cells and wound healing factors necessary to regenerate natural, healthy skin. RES™ has a broad range of applications and can be used to restart healing in unresponsive wounds, to repair burns using less donor skin yet with improved functional and aesthetic outcomes, and to restore pigmentation and improve cosmesis of damaged skin.