Indian Drugs Controller has approved the first indigenously developed tissue engineering scaffold from mammalian organs, an animal-derived Class D Biomedical Device that can rapidly heal skin wounds at a low cost with minimum scarring.

With this, the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), became the first institution in the country to develop Class D medical devices that satisfy all statutory requirements of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, Government of India.

The concept of using animal-derived materials as advanced wound care products is not new. However, indigenous technology was so far not available for fabricating quality products that satisfy the requirements of the Drugs Controller General. Therefore, such products were imported making them expensive.

Researchers of the Division of Experimental Pathology in the Biomedical Technology Wing of the institute developed an innovative technology for preparing tissue engineering scaffolds from mammalian organs. Investigations conducted in the division in the past 15 years under the leadership of Prof TV Anilkumar decellularised pig gall bladder and recovered extracellular matrix.

Membrane forms of the scaffold, identified as Cholederm, healed different types of skin wounds including burn and diabetic wounds in rats, rabbits, or dogs faster than similar products currently available in the market with minimal scarring as proved by several in-depth laboratory investigations focusing on Type I and Type III collagen.

The team unravelled the probable mechanism of the healing reaction and showed that the graft-assisted healing was regulated by anti-inflammatory (pro-regenerative) M2 type of macrophages. Indeed, the scaffold modulated or mitigated the scarring reactions in subcutaneous, skeletal muscle, and cardiac tissues.

In 2017, the technology was transferred to Alicorn Medical, a start-up biopharmaceutical firm in the technology incubation facility of the institute namely TIMed.

“Considering the stringency of the compliance requirements for Class D Medical Devices as per the 2017-Medical Device Rules of India and the general belief among stakeholders that development of animal-derived Class-D Medical Devices is not practical in India, this is a milestone achievement for the Institute, especially the research team as well as Alicorn Medical,” said Harikrishna Varma, the Head Biomedical Technology Wing of the institute.

In a recent research paper accepted for publication in Comparative Medicine, the team showed that the scaffold has the ability to mitigate fibrotic scarring in rats suffering an experimental myocardial infarction.

It is expected that with the introduction of Cholederm to the Indian market, the treatment cost can be reduced from Rs 10,000 to Rs 2,000, making it more affordable to the common man. Moreover, the technology for recovering extracellular matrix from the gall bladder is not available to others and it gives a fair chance for competition in the international market.

In addition, the above findings made gall bladder of pigs, normally a slaughterhouse waste without any monetary value, a high value-added raw material for the biopharmaceutical industry thereby creating an additional income-generating opportunity for pig farmers.