Wound dressing with soluble beta-glucan

Biotec BetaGlucans AS has developed a soluble version of beta-glucan (SBG) which is an active pharmaceutical ingredient used in the wound product Woulgan Gel®. SBG is a biopolymer from yeast that has been shown to stimulate immune cells and especially phagocytic cells that are central in both infection defense and wound healing. SBG can thus accelerate wound healing by SBG activating macrophages in the wound bed. Since many chronic wounds are also often both exuding and infected, Biotec wanted to develop a new dressing that could both stimulate the immune cells in the wound bed, absorb wound fluid and at the same time reduce the infection pressure. The company has created a pilot product with antimicrobial peptide incorporated in a gel-forming fiber bandage with SBG. The antimicrobial properties of the product have been tested in vitro with very good results. Also much thicker gel-forming fiber dressings with both wet spinning and so-called "blow" spinning with SBG have been produced, these products can absorb larger amounts of wound fluid and form a protective gel over the wound.

Man benyttet ulike metoder av spinning-teknologi for fiberproduksjon, elektrospinning, våtspinning og «blow-spin», samt prøvde ut mulighet for å applisere SBG direkte på overflaten av eksisterende/eksperimentelle skumbandasjer. De valgte spinningteknologiene gjorde det mulig å inkorporere antimikrobielle peptider i fibrene og dermed utvikle bandasjer egnet for bruk på infiserte sår. Man lyktes å fremstille både våtspunnet og «blow-spun» fibre, samt i eget pilotanlegg lage elektrospunne fiber med og uten antimikrobielt peptid. I løpet av prosjektet etablerte man også samarbeid med en betydelig bandasjeprodusent og fikk prøvd ut muligheten for å tilføre SBG på overflaten av ulike skumbandasjer. Alle disse delene av prosjektet ga muligheter for videreutvikling. I samarbeid med universitetsmiljøene og RISE ble det etablert metoder for analyse og vurdering av egnethet av de ulike produktene samt etablert mulighet for å lage modifiserte SBG-varianter.

Biotec BetaGlucans AS plan to develop a first of its kind bioactive gel-forming fibre dressing containing soluble beta-glucan (SBG) as active wound healing ingredient for the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds. The fibre dressing will also be developed into a platform for drug delivery to the wound through the incorporation of relevant drugs into the gel-forming fibre. Incorporation of an antimicrobial agent in the dressing will be used as initial proof-of-concept. The project aims to develop radically new and cost-effective wound healing devices for treatment of large hard-to-heal wounds (burns and ulcers), exuding wounds, and donor site wounds. The new absorptive and gel-forming dressings, having the ability to re-activate the healing process in stagnated wounds, will be a significant improvement to the treatments offered in the market today in terms of efficacy, and thereby also cost. The planned innovations in the project are on multiple levels and will consist of new formulation and process technology to produce the novel bioactive dressings, as well as documentation of safety and efficacy of the new products. This scientifically demanding project will require collaboration between Biotec, Amicoat, NTNU, UiT, and RISE, bringing together strong research groups with significant relevant experience and an internationally competitive research infrastructure. We believe the project addresses a key global need and may ultimately contribute to making new wound healing products available to a global patient population. "Wound dressing with soluble beta-glucan" is a 4 year innovation project with funding from the BIA program of the Research Council of Norway.