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The science behind cell repair technology

Elanix Biotechnologies specialises in tissue regeneration to aid growth and healing

Bringing hope and relief to patients across the globe, Elanix Biotechnologies is the brand behind a set of tissue regeneration products that assist in treating acute wounds, as well as dermatological and gynaecological conditions. 
Established in January 2012, Elanix Biotechnologies originates from the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Switzerland. Founded by Prof. Lee Ann Laurent-Applegate, who holds 30 years of experience, the company first set out to commercialise a patented human progenitor cell technology that encourages tissue growth and healing. 
Armed with a small team and offices in Nyon, Switzerland and Wiesbaden, Germany, the Elanix Biotechnologies team led by CEO Tomas J. Svoboda has recently started to boost the sales of its first product, GYNrepair®, a speciality cosmetic product for gynaecological conditions, in Europe. 
Upon successfully signing a licensing agreement, Taiwanese partner, Transwell Bio, has started phase I/II clinical studies with TWB-103 in adults with skin graft donor site wounds (DSW) in Taiwan and Japan. TWB-103 is a novel gel formulation developed by Transwell Biotech, using skin fibroblast progenitor cells provided by Elanix.
 Specialising in deploying a special kind of progenitor cells to develop various product categories for different clinical indications to regenerate, heal and alleviate, Elanix Biotechnologies uses either human or animal progenitor cells as a whole or their derivatives contained in a Cell Free Protein Complex (CFPC). Elanix also owns a patented, GMP-certified Progenitor Skin Cell Bank that greatly contributes towards the research and development involved in tissue regeneration.
Looking at health and medical care in the UAE, the Swiss company respects the high standards that are emerging. "We are looking to establish a presence in the UAE through local representatives and distributors to market our products and know-how in accelerated healing and treatment with cell therapies. We are still focusing mainly on Western Europe, but are exploring exports of goods and services beyond," said Tomas J. Svoboda, CEO, Elanix Biotechnologies. 
Overcoming challenges faced in tissue regeneration 
"The practical challenges are that we operate in fairly new treatment modalities (cell therapy/tissue engineering) that is not regulated across the various countries in the same fashion and it often takes a long time and a lot of effort to obtain market authorisation by the national regulatory bodies," said Svoboda.
He explained that as far as treatment of burn patients goes, speed is essential to protect large body surfaces from loss of liquid, to protect from contamination and stimulate deep wounds to start closing. These factors depend on the patient's age, degree and depth of burn, pre-existing co-morbidities, as well as other factors such as the healing rate. 
"As this differs from patient to patient, our objective is to save lives and allow the rapid transfer of patients from intensive care units to regular hospital beds, as well as assure fast recovery. This way patients can regain their lives before the burn leads to extensive scarring or other skin deformation. We believe that our technology can save and significantly improve lives with a product of natural origins, without any known side effects."
Relief products 
Around 300 million women worldwide are known to suffer from vulvodynia, which causes severe discomfort in intimate genital areas. While its causes are still unknown, Elanix Biotechnologies has developed a product that brings relief in the form of GYNrepair®, a cream that soothes and prevents the feeling of dryness.  
Its second speciality cream is SKINrepair®, which is also based on CFPC technology to protect skin against external injury. This topical cream is scheduled for launch in the first half of 2018 and aims to target dermatological disorders with a non-medical solution. 
Future plans 
Looking ahead, Elanix Biotechnologies aims to secure distribution agreements, complete its third financial round, strengthen the commercial team, launch a new product in 2018, start a Phase II study in Japan, and industrialise its range of acute wound care products.  
"We are looking forward to develop partnerships - scientific and commercial - in countries and institutions that are interested to explore the use of cell based products as a novel, natural and effective way to treat a range of medical or skin conditions. Our objective is to provide a technology platform based on our progenitor technology, derived from cell banks with a vast amounts of cells that can be integrated in various product forms and applications. We plan to take some products to the market alone, while others with partners. The rest we intend to license out or transfer to other well-established partners with larger geographical footprints," said Svoboda.
INFO: Elanix Biotechnologies has its registered office in Berlin, Germany, with an office in Wiesbaden, Germany, and operational headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. It is listed in the Regulated Market on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol ELN.F. For more information and updates, visit www.elanixbiotechnologies.com 
- farhana@khaleejtimes.com