Policy & Regulation
Birch BioMed Completes Clinical Trial for Anti-Scarring Drug
26 August 2016 - - A unique topical treatment developed by University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers to prevent scarring has completed a Health Canada approved Phase I trial, Canadian biomedical company Birch BioMed Inc. said on Friday.

According to the company, the double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical study involving 40 healthy volunteers demonstrates the safety of topically applying FS2 cream at the maximum feasible dose with no adverse effects.

The study's findings will be released next week at the 2016 Congress of the International Society for Burn Injuries, the quadrennial gathering of the world's foremost wound-care and burn injury experts.

Birch BioMed holds the exclusive, worldwide pharmaceutical license from UBC for FS2 and AI-001, two medical therapeutic technologies that it believes signal significant breakthroughs in the treatment of scarring and certain autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 Diabetes and Alopecia (disfiguring hair loss).

The company is developing these revolutionary therapeutics to replace existing treatments for these diseases.

Discovered by UBC Professor of Surgery Dr. Aziz Ghahary, and his team, including Dr. Ryan Hartwell, one of the co-founders of the FS2 technology and chief science officer of BirchBioMed, these technologies are being viewed as important breakthroughs that have the potential to impact ms of people worldwide.

In addition to showing effectiveness in preventing scarring and promoting the breakdown of existing scars, FS2, in combination with the company's licensed AI-001 therapy, a simple, short-term protocol, has also reversed certain autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 Diabetes and Alopecia, as demonstrated in models and reported in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals including Diabetes and the Journal of Cell Physiology.

Birch BioMed's UBC-licensed therapeutics have benefitted from approximately CDN 6m in academic research grants and donations from the Canadian government, Insurance Boards and foundations, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Proof-of-Principal Program, the National Science and Research Council, the JDRF (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) and The National Alopecia Areata Foundation.

It is also the first technology that UBC, or any other Canadian academic institution, has advanced from the discovery stage through Phase I clinical trials with support strictly from government and private donations.

BirchBioMed's license was granted through UBC's University Industry Liaison Office. BirchBioMed is the 86th life science spin-off company from the university.
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