AWC Summit EU 2023: European and US Growth Explored in London

SmartTRAK joined industry colleagues in London to explore new technologies at an exciting time in wound care.

SmartTRAK has determined the 2022 European Advanced Wound Care (AWC) Market grew at a +4.4% rate compared to 2021. AWC in Europe is dominated by Advanced Dressings, with Wound Biologics and External Devices only accounting for 18.6% of total revenue. This is in stark comparison with the US AWC Market in which highly-priced treatments such as Wound Biologics (44.4% share in US) and External Devices (28.4%) have favorable reimbursement levels. SmartTRAK forecasts both markets to benefit from healthy growth in the next five years despite some looming reimbursement challenges. In the US, Medicare Administrative Contractor LCD changes to skin substitutes (as featured in this article) could lead to reduced usage of the products in the hospital outpatient and physician office sites of care, and in Germany reimbursement on silver products is due to end in late 2024.
 

At the event in London, contributors discussed areas as varied as adapting to home care and remote monitoring, launching products in the US and keeping up with the changing European regulatory landscape as the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) replaces the old Medical Device Directive (MDD). SmartTRAK was present and Lennart Stadler, SmartTRAK GM and OUS Sr. Analyst, Wound, presented the latest market insights from the global AWC space, including an overview of the recent corporate activity (Figure 1).

The session that generated the greatest discussion was titled “Investment 101.”  Asif Shahinsha from PharmaVentures, Pierre Socha from Amadeus Capital Partners and Gabor Heltovics from NLC Health Ventures discussed the best approaches toward fundraising and which companies have been successful. 

A regular feature of the 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.  The companies were:
 

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. The companies were:

• Amferia– a Swedish company that is developing antimicrobial peptides for use in a variety of applications and carriers. The Company has made an FDA submission and is currently operating within the veterinary market.
• Healthy.io– an Israeli digital organization that has launched Minuteful for Wound. The app is being used widely in the UK and has shown positive impacts on treatment, such as a 33% reduction in antimicrobial usage.
• Hybrisan– a Welsh medtech product development company that has an antibiofilm technology called WoundSan. The solution can be used alongside existing antimicrobials such as silver and the company is in discussions with potential commercial partners.
• Plasma4– a British cold plasma company spun out from the University of Lancaster. The product applies the treatment through a dressing.
• SmartWound– a British biophysical chemistry company that has developed infection-sensing technologies within dressings or via a swab. The Company believes the test can be undertaken for around $6, making it less expensive than other alternatives.
• SolasCure– this UK-based business has been visible on the market for a few years with its enzymatic debridement technology, Aurase. The product is moving towards its IIb clinical study and is unlikely to reach the market before 2028.

Following the vote, the winning organization was announced as Hybrisan. SmartTRAK talked with Hybrisan CEO Dr. Chris Mortimer to discuss the challenge of biofilms and the company’s journey to bring its WoundSan technology to market.

That interview, titled "Combating Biofilms at Every Stage of Wound Care," is featured in this post on the SmartTRAK blog.