FORT SASKATCHEWAN, ALBERTA, CANADA - The Westaim Corporation today announced it will conduct a comparative study of ActicoatTM antimicrobial barrier wound dressings and silver sulfadiazine (1% cream), a conventional burn treatment, with several leading burn units in the United States and Canada in 1998.
"This is an important step in helping Westaim to market Acticoat antimicrobial barrier," said Kevin Jenkins, Westaim's President and CEO. "The studies will confirm its efficacy and ease of use as an antimicrobial barrier in the treatment of burn wounds, and will show it is cost effective and more comfortable for patients when compared with a conventional treatment."
The first five participating burn units in the study are Baltimore Regional Burn Centre at John Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland; Shriners Burn Institute in Galveston, Texas; Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, Burn Center in Los Angeles, California; Shriners Burns Center in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Ross Tilly Burn Center, Wellesley Hospital, in Toronto, Ontario. More burn units will begin participating in the study in the coming months. In total, the study will involve more than 100 patients.
To coincide with the study, Westaim has initiated a Caregiver Training Program to provide hands-on training to prepare health care workers for the introduction of ActicoatTM dressing. The program includes suggested dressing protocols, how to prepare wounds for treatment with ActicoatTM dressing, cleaning wounds, dressing activation, dressing removal and patient aesthetics.
ActicoatTM biomedical coating technology uses thin, soluble silver films to release an effective concentration of antimicrobial silver for several days. Silver is well known for its ability to fight infection. Studies have demonstrated the product's effectiveness in killing bacteria. Initially used with burn wound dressings, other potential uses include chronic wound care for diabetic, venous stasis and pressure ulcers, urological and central venous catheters and orthopaedic devices. Westaim chose the burn wound market as the initial target for ActicoatTM dressing because the risk of infection is great due to the size and severity of these wounds.
Westaim has assembled an independent Physicians Advisory Panel made up of prominent burn wound specialists from across North America to evaluate the results of the studies and identify other possible applications.
ActicoatTM dressing has been accepted as a medical device in the United States and Canada. Westaim expects to launch ActicoatTM dressing as a commercial product in mid-1998.
Westaim has a portfolio of new business opportunities consisting of biomedical coatings, electroluminescent flat panel displays and surface engineered products. Westaim also manufactures aerospace materials, chemicals and coin blanks. Westaim is a TSE 300 company listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange, The Alberta Stock Exchange and the Montreal Exchange under the trading symbol "WED."
*Acticoat is a registered trademark of The Westaim Corporation.
For further information please contact:
Tony Johnston
Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs
(403) 234-3103
tjohnsto@westaim.com
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