Quick-Med Technologies, Inc., a life sciences company that is developing innovative technologies for the healthcare and consumer markets, announced that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Defense for research on the "Development of Technologies to Control Scar Contracture after Burn Injuries."

NIMBUS technology was competitively selected for this award under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the DoD Defense Health Program (DHP). The SBIR program, established by the U.S. Congress, supports scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds by competitively awarding contracts on the basis of scientific merit and commercial potential.

The Phase I objective of this research is "to design a new innovative technology to intervene during the wound healing process, including inflammatory, proliferative and/or remodeling stages, to attenuate/control scar contracture and retain skin aesthetics following deep tissue burn injuries."

The Phase I research contract is valued at about $150,000. Work starts immediately and is expected to take about 6 months. Follow-on phases of the award can bring the total value close to $1M, and will develop the proof of concept to commercial readiness.

"We are very pleased to have been competitively selected for this important advanced research program into dressings that can speed wound healing," said Bernd Liesenfeld, Quick-Med's President. "This award is a further validation of our NIMBUS antimicrobial technology platform and will enable us to continue our development a series of products that accelerate wound healing and help prevent microbial contamination."

The new research contract builds on Quick-Med's prior work developing a dressing that was shown to speed healing of vesicant (blister) injuries caused by chemical weapons (sulfur mustard gas).

This previous research, which was conducted under Phase 1 and Phase 2 SBIR awards from the US Army, was presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Wound Healing Society, where it received the top prize for Industrial Research and Development.

This new award permits Quick-Med to extend that research to more directly address unmet commercial needs in treatments for the approximately 2.4 million thermal burns occurring annually in the US, with a dressing designed to reduce scarring and contracture in healing of severe burns. Part of the research will be conducted at the University of Florida's Institute for Wound Research.

"The NIMBUS super-absorbent polymer technology allows Quick-Med to develop a unique dressing that provides antimicrobial protection for the wound while also acting to minimize scar tissue formation, and inhibit matrix metalloproteinases to block contracture of tissues," said Professor Greg Schultz, Director of the Institute for Wound Research at the University of Florida.

"This unique combination therapy should speed healing and reduce contraction of severe burns in our wounded warriors. It would also have extensive application for civilians with large burns."