A new generation of medicinal products derived from HemaGel

Scientists from the IMC CAS have managed to develop a new generation of medicinal products derived from the original product used to accelerate healing of injuries called HemaGel. Medicinal products manufacturer company VH Pharma will launch gel HemaGel New and its new application HemaCut SPRAY this year. Both new medicinal products have been protected by patents.

The new generation of medicinal products derived from the original product HemaGel is the result of long-term cooperation of polymer chemists from the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the CAS with the company VH Pharma.

Chemists from the IMC have improved the structure of HemaGel and developed a new spray application. "Both new products contain an active polymer that can scavenge harmful oxygen radicals in the wound, effectively suppressing inflammation. The polymer is made up of large macromolecules, interconnected into networks. This arrangement prevents passing of the polymer through the skin into the body and keeps it on the surface of the wound, where it can act for a long time, "explains Zdeňka Sedláková, Head of the Department of Controlled Polymer Synthesis, which deals with the development of hydrophilic gels at the IMC.

HemaGel NEW forms a hydrogel based on a newly developed IPN polymer network. Thanks to its unique properties, the hydrogel requires optimal conditions for healing that have anti-inflammatory effects, supports wet healing and suppresses microbial colonization of the wound. HemaGel New is intended for the healing of acute wounds, such as superficial wounds, including 1st and 2nd degree burns and postoperative wounds, and is also suitable for the healing of chronic wounds such as shin centers, bedsores and skin defects of patients with diabetes. The company VH Pharma is planning to launch other medicinal devices in the form of the HemaCut SPRAY.

“For HemaCut SPRAY, we have developed a new composition of polymer networks that can be applied using a mechanical sprayer. After spraying, use an adhesive, breathable layer on the wound, which is waterproof and, like HemaGel, has anti-inflammatory effects, quickly increases wound to quickly increase wound healing," describes Zdeňka Sedlaková. HemaCut SPRAY is suitable for healing superficial skin injuries, such as small cracks and fissures in the skin, 1st degree burns, abrasions, cuts, lacerations and wounds, blisters and other various superficial injuries.

 

Tradition of research of innovative polymeric materials with therapeutic properties

Research focused on the development of new polymeric materials with unique therapeutic properties is one of the key research tasks at the IMC. “We continue to develop biomedical polymers. I firmly believe that we will soon see other successful applications of our work in the near future," says Jiří Kotek, director of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry. ÚMCH has experience with the research of hydrophilic gels since its establishment. In the 1960s, the invention of the founder of the Institute, Professor Otto Wichterle, enabled the production of soft hydrogel contact lenses to begin.

Combining research results in the field of contact lenses with Jiri Labsky’s 30 years of experience studying chemical reactions of free oxygen radical scavengers led to the development of polymeric substances designed to accelerate wound healing in the 1990s. The substance into which Jiří Labský built poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) is the same polymer that makes up soft contact lenses. Discovery of the HemaGel thus built on the work of the founder of the Institute.