Kerecis Release: Minister of Industry Inaugurates Fish Skin Medical Device Facility

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND and ISAFJORDUR, ICELAND--(Marketwire - September 26, 2011) -

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Kerecis

Iceland's Minister of Industry Katrin Juliusdottir today inaugurated the Kerecis Medical Device manufacturing facility in Isafjordur, Iceland. The only one of its kind in Iceland, the GMP-compliant facility fulfills the requirements of FDA and European authorities.

Kerecis develops, manufactures and markets medical devices under the brand names MariGen™ and MariCell™. Both products contain collagen and Omega3 oils derived from fish skin, and are used to treat damaged skin and tissue.

The MariCell dermatology creams will be the initial products manufactured in the facility. This product line consists of three cream variants for the treatment of dry and cracked feet, red and inflamed skin, and dry and scaly skin. Sales of the products will start in Iceland in October and in overseas markets in the immediate future through distribution and private label agreements.

Comments from the inauguration ceremony:
G. Fertram Sigurjonsson, Kerecis Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board:
"The unique Kerecis technology requires specialized manufacturing equipment. In the new facility we will be producing products that address unmet clinical needs such as care for chronic wounds, which result in more than 100,000 amputations annually in the U.S. alone. In developing the technology used in this facility, we were fortunate to receive grants from technology development programs here in Iceland such as from the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture and from the Ministry of Industry's Technical Development fund."

Katrín Juliusdottir, Iceland's Minister of Industry:
"Kerecis has accomplished much in the past years, showing us how a traditional industry like the seafood industry can be a good platform for innovative businesses. I am certain that the choice of Isafjordur as a site for their facility will be good for the Kerecis stakeholders and the local community. With the facility, several new jobs will be created for both unskilled and skilled labor, which is good and exiting news for us all."

About Kerecis
Kerecis (http://www.kerecis.com) is a development and manufacturing business producing a novel, patent-pending tissue-regeneration material derived from fish skin to accelerate the healing of wounds and tissue reconstruction. The Kerecis material addresses the large unmet need of the double-digit-growth biologics segment of the chronic-wounds, hernia-repair and dermatology markets. The material offers advantages over existing human- and porcine-derived products, including improved manufacturing economics and lower risk of disease transfer. Since it is derived from fish, the material is both kosher and halal compatible, eliminating cultural and religious constraints on usage, with equivalent or better clinical performance. For more information, e-mail info@kerecis.com or call 703-879-6535 (U.S.) or 354-8494960 (Iceland).

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Technorati: chronic wounds wound care skin cream tissue regeneration tissue-regeneration medical device