Avita Medical Hosts International Skin Regeneration Symposium Attended By Leading Clinicians

NORTHRIDGE, CA and CAMBRIDGE, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - April 23, 2015) - Avita Medical Ltd. (ASX: AVH) (OTCQX: AVMXY), a regenerative medicine company specializing in the treatment of wounds, scars, and skin defects, today provided a summary of its Skin Regeneration Symposium which was held on April 14th - 15th at Cambridge University. The forum, which was attended by more than 80 clinicians from around the world, featured keynote speakers; presentations and panel discussions all focused on using regenerative medicine to treat burns, wound care, trauma, aesthetic revision and plastics reconstruction. A key outcome from the symposium was the conclusion that a novel epithelial suspension used to regenerate skin for patients suffering from burns and chronic wounds can be a vital part of a surgeon’s toolkit, and results can be further optimised when ReCell is used with other standard medical devices.

“Using an epithelial suspension has become part of our standard of care in regenerating skin in burns patients, and it is a vital part of our toolkit,” said Dr Jeremy Rawlins, a Consultant Plastic Surgeon from the Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Australia. “We have also found that results are optimised even further when the suspension is used with other modalities that promote early wound closure.”

Dr Rawlins commented that the Regenerative Epithelial Suspension (RES™), which is the active element in Avita’s products such as ReCell®, worked well when used in combination with other standard surgical techniques and devices, such as mesh skin grafting, dermal substitutes and biosynthetic skin dressings.

Mr Paul Hayes, a Consultant Vascular Surgeon from Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK agreed, adding that in his experience; “With difficult to heal chronic wounds, the Regenerative Epithelial Suspension produced by using ReCell® provided a promising alternative to gain wound closure, where other treatments had failed. It has enabled us to effectively treat long term patients.”

The unifying theme across all of the presentations and the discussions was the interest in exploring further how RES™ could be utilised with current treatment regimens to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

Among the keynote speakers, Dr Nik Georgopoulos of Huddersfield University, UK, presented on the ‘The control of epithelial cell fate: Understanding the mechanisms controlling tissue regeneration to design improved therapeutic approaches,’ and Dr Ian L. Valerio, from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, presented on ‘Taking Skin Further in the Care of Massively Wounded Patients.’ In parallel with the scientific programme, a series of poster sessions and practical demonstrations were run as a resource for clinicians to further collaborate and share different techniques and approaches.

At a concluding award ceremony, the ‘Avita Medical Award for Innovation’ went to Professor Jiayuan Zhu of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, China, for his chronic wounds RCT which was published in the British Journal of Surgery (BJS) Volume 102, Issue 2, January 2015.

The ‘Fiona Wood Award for Passion’ went to Professor Dr Matthias Aust, a Consultant Plastic and Aesthetic Surgeon at Germany’s Malteser Hospital. The award was given in person by Professor Dr Fiona Wood who commented on Dr Aust’s commitment and enthusiasm in reference to his ongoing work using medical needling in combination with ReCell®.

“It has been Avita Medicals’ privilege to be able to bring together and host a group of likeminded, truly forward thinking clinicians from around the world,” Avita Medical CEO Adam Kelliher said. “Our aim was for the symposium to act as a catalyst for active debate, and to be a forum for the exchange of ideas and techniques on regenerative medicine. For a truly collaborative approach we wanted the clinicians to drive the programme and take ownership of the event. From our perspective we believe we achieved this aim, and we look forward to expanding the format in 2016.”

For further information regarding the Skin Regeneration Symposium 2015 please visit the post event web page http://www.avitamedical.com/corporate/media-centre/symposium/

ABOUT AVITA MEDICAL LIMITED

Avita Medical (http://www.avitamedical.com) develops and distributes regenerative products for the treatment of a broad range of wounds, scars and skin defects. Avita’s patented and proprietary tissue-culture, collection and application technology provides innovative treatment solutions derived from a patient’s own skin. The Company’s lead product, ReCell®, is used in a wide variety of burns, plastic, reconstructive and cosmetic procedures. ReCell is patented, CE-marked for Europe, TGA-registered in Australia, and SFDA-cleared in China. ReCell is not available for sale in the United States; in the United States, ReCell is an investigational device limited by federal law to investigational use. A Phase III FDA trial is in process.