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KerecisTM Omega3 Wound: the first fish skin substitute in the European Market for chronic wound care

Project description

Atlantic cod skin to treat diabetic foot ulcers

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are a major concern for EU healthcare systems. Treatment is costly, and in many cases, amputations cannot be avoided. Existing treatment methods for wound healing need further improvement to become efficient and cost-affordable. The EU-funded Kerefish project proposes a new method based on the North Atlantic cod skin. The skin grafts have unique properties and contain a high level of Omega 3 fatty acids that improve wound healing even in serious cases of DFUs. The project will effectuate large-scale clinical tests in four EU countries to facilitate the introduction of this product in the EU and make it available for reimbursement in the EU public healthcare system.

Objective

Chronic wounds in general and diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) in particular are a challenge to wound care specialists and health care systems. With 8.5% of the global population suffering from diabetes, diabetic foot disease results in costs of about €4.1bn yearly in Europe alone. Patients find their quality of life seriously affected and, in many cases, DFU leads to amputation. Standard treatment for chronic wounds today is moist wound healing with standard wound dressings. Lately, efforts have been made to introduce novel, advanced treatment options, such as skin grafts from mammalian tissue and growth factors. However, none of these has been able to provide solid evidence for clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness, and they are not available through public health care systems in Europe.
Kerecis (Iceland), the coordinator of the Kerefish project, has developed KerecisTM Omega3 Wound, a novel skin substitute derived from North Atlantic cod skin. The unique structure of the grafts and their high content of Omega 3 fatty acids promote wound healing, even in severe DFU cases. KerecisTM Omega3 Wound has received the CE mark and FDA approval. However, as it is currently not reimbursed by public health systems in Europe, it is not yet available for the European population.
Kerecis has teamed up with CERITD (France), an association for diabetes prevention and treatment and Endospin (Italy), a distributor of wound care products with experience in clinical trial sponsoring, to carry out large-scale clinical trials in 4 European countries and prepare the path to reimbursement and to the European health care market for this disruptive product, which will improve patients quality of life and help solve one of the pressing health problems of today’s societies.
The Kerefish project will accumulate €70M of revenues and €18M of EBITDA in the first 5 years of commercialization.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

IA - Innovation action

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-FTI-2018-2020

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Coordinator

KERECIS HF.
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 934 159,80
Address
EYRARGATA 2
400 ISAFJORDUR
Iceland

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Ísland Ísland Landsbyggð
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 334 514,00

Participants (3)

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