The treatment, called NexoBrid, is an FDA-cleared enzymatic therapy that can be topically applied immediately in the field to treat severe burns with minimal preparation.
Burns are an important cause of battlefield injury, accounting for 5–20% of the combat injury burden.
This additional funding, which increases the total budget to $14.4 million, will advance the development and production of a new, temperature-stable formulation of NexoBrid.
According to MediWound, this will position the treatment as the first-line non-surgical solution for treating severe burn injuries in pre-hospital settings.
The orphan biologic, which removes eschar in severe burns, can replace surgical inventions and minimize associated costs and complications, the company added.
"We are delighted to further solidify our partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense. The additional funding will enhance our CMC activities, expedite preclinical development, and facilitate the establishment of a GMP compliant aseptic production line for the temperature-stable formulation of NexoBrid," said Ofer Gonen, CEO of MediWound.
"This new award underscores our shared commitment to ensuring NexoBrid's availability for military use and its potential to significantly change the early treatment approach for severe burns."
Vericel Corporation currently holds an exclusive license encompassing the commercial and development rights to NexoBrid in North America.
Utilizing the same core biotherapeutic enzymatic platform technology, MediWound has developed a strong R&D pipeline including the company’s lead drug under development, EscharEx.
EscharEx is a phase 3-ready biologic for debridement of chronic wounds with ‘significant advantages’ over the $300 million monopoly legacy drug and an opportunity to expand the market, the company said.
MediWound’s pipeline also includes MW005, a topical therapeutic for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma that has demonstrated positive results in a recently completed early study.
