Smith+Nephew Sells 2 Wound-Healing Cell Therapy Assets to Healiva

Smith+Nephew has sold two cell therapy assets to Healiva, a Swiss company developing precision medicine for chronic and acute wounds. The deal endows Healiva with a broad portfolio of affordable, personalized, end-to-end wound care made up of enzyme technology, autologous/allogenic cell therapies, and medical devices.
 
The first asset, EpiDex, is an autologous epidermal equivalent to heal chronic venous leg ulcers (VLUs) without surgery. The product was previously approved for the Swiss market and Healiva intends to stage a relaunch there.
 
The second asset, now called healiva002, is an off-the-shelf allogenic cell therapy proven to be effective to treat VLUs that are resistant to standard treatments.
 
The elderly and people with diabetes will particularly benefit from the relaunch of these products.
 
“We created Healiva to improve the lives of the millions suffering from chronic wounds by delivering innovative, effective new treatments to patients,” Healiva founder and CEO Priyanka Dutta-Passecker, Ph.D., MBA told the press. “These remarkable cell therapies will make a pivotal contribution to that mission by addressing crucial needs in early- and late-stage chronic wound care. By adding these pioneering technologies to our growing portfolio of wound treatments, we will be able to continue our rapid growth by progressing to commercialization within four years of founding.”
 
“With 36 million people worldwide currently suffering from chronic wounds, we urgently need novel solutions for hard-to-treat wounds,” said Valerio Maria Ferrari, Bioseutica group chairman and co-founder of Healiva. “Following this acquisition, we are looking forward to bringing two such solutions to market, beginning with EpiDex in Switzerland, pending approval by Swissmedic, followed by Germany and other EMEA countries. Meanwhile, for healiva002, we will improve the product, scale up the manufacturing process, and continue its clinical development for future commercial success at scale.”