Wound GM Kris Flinn and Senior Analysts Elizabeth Anderson and Jay Merkel discuss the impact of delay and how industry players may choose to react.

On April 11, 2025, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that the Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Venous Leg Ulcers Final Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) effective date will be delayed until January 1, 2026. In this video (16:43 minutes), SmartTRAK Wound GM Kris Flinn and Senior Analysts Elizabeth Anderson and Jay Merkel discuss the impact of delay, and how industry players may choose to react.

The SmartTRAK Wound Team will be in attendance at the upcoming SAWC Spring conference in Grapevine, TX (April 30 to May 4). Please register here to meet the team.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2019, according to the World Health Organization. With AMR now seen as a top global health concern and COVID-19 still in recent memory, the challenge of overcoming infections appropriately and effectively exists in all areas of healthcare and beyond. This includes wound care, with SmartTRAK forecasting that the WW antimicrobial market will exceed $1.00B for the first time in 2024.

One company aiming to tackle the challenge in antimicrobial therapies is Swiss-based Polaroid Therapeutics. The company has developed a proprietary advanced polymer technology that is designed to reduce bio-burden in a variety of settings, including in wound management. SmartTRAK recently caught up with CEO and co-founder Ran Frenkel to discuss the journey that the company has been on. Click on the video below to listen to the interview (15:01 min). A link to download the transcript of the interview is also provided below.

SmartTRAK: This is Kris Flinn with SmartTRAK. Today, I'm joined by Ran Frenkel, CEO and co-founder of Polaroid Therapeutics. Polaroid Therapeutics is a Swiss-based biotech startup focused on the development of innovative antimicrobial technology. The company has developed a proprietary advanced polymer technology that is designed to reduce bio-burden in a variety of settings, including in wound management. Ran, thank you for joining us today. Could you please start by giving me some background on yourself?

Ran Frenkel: Hi, Kris. Thanks. Happy to be here. I'm a pharmacist by training. For the last 25 years, I have been working in the pharmaceutical industry in different kinds of management positions in drug discovery and drug development. For the last 11 years, I was the Chief Development Officer of an oncology company here in the US, where we developed a first-in-class new drug for blood cancers, which was approved in over 50 countries. For the last two years, nearly two years, I joined Polaroid Therapeutics, moving from the oncology space into more of the antibacterials and wound management space.

Fantastic. So, Polaroid is a name that many people will recognize, but could you tell me a little about Polaroid Therapeutics specifically and the journey that the company's been on?

RF: Yeah, and it's a very nice story because everyone is familiar with ...

With the eyes of the wound care world focused on the markets for Skin Substitutes and Antimicrobials, SmartTRAK discusses how 2024 could be a disruptive year for Debridement.

SmartTRAK forecasts that the WW Debridement Market will grow at a 5-year CAGR of +4.9% to 2027E, at which point it will be valued at over half a billion dollars. In this article, Kris Flinn, SmartTRAK's Sr. Analyst, Wound, does a deep dive into what's ahead for the debridement market, including the indexed growth for Advanced Wound Care (AWC) and Debridement for each of the three SmartTRAK geographical regions: US, Europe (EU) and the Rest of World (ROW).

Among the topics covered in detail in this market outlook article, which can be downloaded here, are:

• Chemical Debridement Growing Pains
  Chemical Debridement is the smallest of the Debridement segments The WW 5-year CAGR of +69.1% promises a brighter future, with usage growing across all geographic regions, including ...
• New Enzymatic Debridement Technologies Continue to Build Evidence
  MediWound presented Phase IIB clinical trial results for bromelain-based EscharEx at the SAWC Spring meeting in May 2023. The 120-patient venous leg ulcer, multicenter, randomized control trial compared EscharEx with a placebo gel vehicle and a non-surgical standard of care (SoC). Results showed...

SmartTRAK talks with Hybrisan CEO Dr. Mortimer to discuss the challenge of biofilms and the Company’s journey to bring its WoundSan technology to market.

The AWC Summit, held biannually, brings together established companies, start-ups, research organizations and various industry stakeholders. SmartTRAK previously covered the US event in July 2023 in Boston, MA, focusing on advancing the commercialization of new technologies in wound care, and was in London, UK to cover the EU Summit. 

A regular feature of the Advanced Wound Care (AWC) Summit is the Innovation Showcase. At the event in London, six companies took turns pitching their technologies, with the delegates voting to award one company as the winner.
Following the vote, the winning organization was announced as Hybrisan. SmartTRAK talked with Hybrisan CEO Dr. Mortimer to discuss its Woundsan technology and the challenge of combating biofilms in wound care. The interview can be viewed below and a transcript can be downloaded by clicking the button:

Future Events

The next AWC Summit will be the US edition and will take place in Boston, MA on the 16^thand 17^thof April, 2024. SmartTRAKwill be in attendance and will be discussing the latest insights within wound care. More information on the event is available  here. The next European event is planned for late 2024, with details to follow.

Discover how Europe is transforming into a hotbed of innovation for chronic wound care through the breakthrough technology of cold plasma therapy. As the global focus on chronic wounds intensifies, European markets are witnessing a surge in new technologies that offer promising solutions. From smaller, portable devices to collaborative research efforts, this article highlights the rise of cold plasma therapy and its potential to revolutionize wound care. Download the article to further explore these, and other, key points:

• Europe's lower revenue levels for advanced wound therapies compared to the US present an opportunity for new technologies to thrive.
• Cold plasma therapy, utilizing low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasmas, demonstrates impressive benefits in treating chronic wounds, including bacterial inactivation and enhanced healing.
• Recent advancements have led to the development of smaller and more portable cold plasma devices, expanding treatment options beyond hospitals to ambulatory settings and even patients' homes.
• Swiss company ActivCell Group Ag, German companies neoplas med GmbH and Plasmacure BV and Dutch company Terraplasma Medical GmbH are among the pioneering companies offering innovative cold plasma devices.
• The future of cold plasma therapy depends on the willingness of companies to collaborate, navigate regulatory challenges, and establish a distinct market presence.
• While European advancements in cold plasma therapy are promising, the highly competitive US market remains a long-term goal for most companies, necessitating FDA approval and strategic partnerships.
• The rapid growth of topical oxygen therapy in the US, driven by initiatives like the Veterans Association and state-level Medicaid approvals, could potentially outpace European progress once FDA approval is obtained.

The full article delves into the transformative potential of cold plasma therapy in chronic wound care. Explore the advancements, collaborations and challenges that shape Europe's emerging market and its race against the US in revolutionizing wound treatment. Just click the button below to download the complete "EWMA 2023 - Cold Plasma Poised for Growth in Europe" article by Kris Flinn, SmartTRAK Senior Analyst - Wound.