Could BioStem's Perinatal Tissue-Based Products Be The Chronic Wound-Healing Solution Everyone Is Waiting For?

The treatment of chronic and acute wounds has always represented a major challenge in the healthcare field. 

Chronic wounds are defined as wounds that have failed to progress through the phases of healing in an orderly and timely fashion and have shown no significant progress toward healing in 30 days.

Chronic wounds are a challenge to treat and constitute a significant financial burden on the healthcare system, so novel therapeutic approaches for wound healing are constantly studied and are highly warranted.

Although wound healing is considered an efficient process in the human body, parameters such as ageing, comorbidities including diabetes, obesity and autoimmune diseases tend to cause a delay in wound healing.

Perinatal Tissues Promise Speedier Healing And Reduced Pain In Chronic Wound Treatment

A promising strategy that has been emerging in the area of chronic wound treatment is the application of human perinatal tissue allografts derived from placenta. Allografts refer to tissue transplants from one individual to another genetically nonidentical individual.

Among the many companies that have emerged in recent years working on new therapies for wound healing is Florida-based BioStem Technologies Inc. BSEM.

BioStem focuses on developing and manufacturing structural-tissue allografts derived from perinatal tissues intended for use as a protective covering for soft-tissue wounds.

Perinatal tissue, which is an abundant source of extracellular matrix proteins and growth factors, is extracted from placenta and its derivatives, including the amniotic membrane, chorionic membrane, umbilical cord and the amniotic fluid from full-term births. 

The amniotic membrane is the innermost layer of the human placenta that acts as a protective barrier for the developing fetus. The membrane consists of layers made up of materials packed with proteins, stem cells and regenerative molecules that are important for growth and healing, making it especially suited to wound healing.

The use of amniotic membranes was initially limited because of storage challenges associated with use of the fresh tissue. But by applying the latest research in regenerative medicine, BioStem has developed BioRetain®, a proprietary technology that creates a dehydrated human amniotic membrane allograft thus preserving the natural integrity of amniotic tissue.

The dehydration process in BioRetain is gradual, and the grafts are sterilized using electron beams to avoid harmful byproducts or excessive irradiation associated with other methods. 

Allografts processed using the BioRetain process can be stored for up to five years without losing their therapeutic properties, making the Vendaje suite of products a versatile option for a wide variety of topical covering applications in wound healing.

BioStem’s allografts use a proprietary regenerative approach called Local MicroEnvironment Activation™ that uses combinations of small molecules, cytokines and growth factors to activate the local microenvironment of cells and create repair signals in the tissue.

The local microenvironment is the immediate environment surrounding a cell or group of cells that holds the physical and chemical signals that influence cellular behavior. The growth and repair of tissue in wound healing are largely dependent on the microenvironmental conditions of the cells involved, and cellular activation is impacted by any changes in the microenvironment, including alterations in mechanical forces, extracellular matrix and growth factors.

Local microenvironmental activation refers to the regenerative and positive impact that the perinatal tissue allograft produces on the wound site's cells and tissues. 

Perinatal tissue allografts are capable of providing the scaffolding required for the cells to connect and develop, which has a beneficial effect on the healing process. Upon application of the allograft, growth factors within the allograft become immediately available to surrounding cells and tissues, initiating regenerative activity.

Based on this approach, BioStem has developed three perinatal tissue allograft products for wound care — Vendaje ®, Vendaje AC ® and Vendaje Optic ® — that are intended for homologous use as a protective covering for soft-tissue wounds.

Vendaje® can be used as a substitute for skin grafts or placed over open wounds to speed up and improve the healing process after surgery. Vendaje AC® is a thicker multilayer allograft for major surgeries, severe burns or complex wounds and ulcers, and  Vendaje Optic®  is used to repair wounds or heal surgery incisions on the eye.

With these new products, BioStem remains optimistic about carving a unique niche for itself that would position it for continued growth in the future. 

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Featured photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash