SolasCure Awarded £405k Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Grant to Advance Chronic Wound Care
March 20, 2024 – Biotechnology – SolasCure, agency grant, chronic wound care
- Funding will be used to further optimise Aurase Wound Gel for future clinical trials
- SolasCure aims to deliver the first efficacious, cost-effective and pain-free solution for millions of patients suffering from chronic wounds.
20 March 2024 — Cambridge, UK — SOLASCURE, a biotechnology company developing a novel treatment to transform chronic wound care, today announced it has been awarded a highly competitive Biomedical Catalyst grant for industry-led research and development (R&D) from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency. The funding, totalling £405k, will support the continued clinical development of SolasCure’s first investigational product, Aurase Wound Gel; a hydrogel containing tarumase (provisional INN), an enzyme cloned from medical maggots, for the treatment of millions of patients worldwide with chronic wounds.
SolasCure is one of 32 companies to be awarded the prestigious grant, which aims to support the development of solutions to significant health and healthcare challenges, out of 358 candidates that applied.
The grant will be used to improve the ambient temperature stability of Aurase Wound Gel, enabling transport and use of the product in a wide range of settings, as well as to adjust the release kinetics to ensure that tarumase is present at the wound surface at optimal concentrations throughout the treatment period. By optimising Aurase Wound Gel for further clinical trials, SolasCure aims to deliver an innovative product that will promote the healing of chronic wounds by addressing all elements of wound management— one that is cost-effective, fast, efficacious and pain-free, and that can be used easily in community or home care settings.
“Chronic wounds represent an immense healthcare and economic burden. The Biomedical Catalyst grant award provides exciting validation and recognition from Innovate UK that SolasCure has the technical innovation to address this urgent unmet medical need,” said Andy Weymann MD MBA, chairman of the Board, SolasCure. “Following the landmark publication of our phase 2a clinical trial data, the injection of this additional non-dilutive funding will take the development of Aurase Wound Gel one step closer to improving the lives of millions of patients suffering from chronic wounds.”
The Innovate UK funding complements a recently received European Innovation Council Accelerator grant to further de-risk SolasCure’s development of Aurase Wound Gel.
About SolasCure
SolasCure is a pioneering biologics company committed to addressing the pressing issue of inadequate debridement and healing solutions for chronic wounds. Our product, Aurase Wound Gel, addresses a significant unmet medical need – better wound bed preparation is a growing and urgent problem without safe and effective solutions. This innovative approach incorporates biomimicry of medical maggots’ natural processes that clean wounds and promote healing. We aim to provide accessible solutions across all settings from hospital to home care. SolasCure was founded in 2017 as a spin-off from BRAIN Biotech, a leading German biotech company focused on harnessing biological diversity to develop innovative solutions. Visit: solascure.com.
About Innovate UK
Innovate UK drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas. We connect businesses to the partners, customers and investors that can help them turn ideas into commercially successful products and services and business growth. We fund business and research collaborations to accelerate innovation and drive business investment into R&D. Our support is available to businesses across all economic sectors, value chains and UK regions. Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation. For more information visit: www.innovateuk.ukri.org.
