Manchester, England — A new study suggests that avotermin (Juvista) can provide lasting improvement in scarring following injuries, reports Medical News Today.
The study, reported in a recent issue of Lancet, was conducted by a research team headed by a University of Manchester professor affiliated with Manchester-based biopharm company Renovo. The researchers conducted three randomized trials to assess the effect of prophylactic administration of avotermin on skin scarring. The patients randomized to avotermin had the drug administered before wounding and again 24 hours later to both margins of small incisions cut through the skin of the upper arm to muscle depth. Identical wounds on the other arm were randomized to placebo and standard wound care. The primary endpoints were visual assessment of scar appearance at six months and 12 months after wounding in two studies, and from six weeks to seven months after wounding in the third. Investigators, participants, and scar assessors were unaware of which treatment had been assigned to which wound.
In two studies, avotermin significantly improved outcome on a visual 100-point scale by an average of five points at month six and eight points by month 12. In the third study, avotermin significantly improved total scar scores at all concentrations versus placebo. Sixty percent of the scars treated with avotermin showed 25 percent or less abnormal orientation of the collagen fibers in the skin, versus 33 percent of scars treated with placebo.
“Results of these…studies show that avotermin is a new class of prophylactic medicine promoting the regeneration of healthy skin and improving scar appearance compared with controls,” the authors write. “With low doses injected locally around the time of surgery, avotermin is a well-tolerated and convenient treatment. These studies suggest that avotermin has potential to provide an accelerated and permanent improvement in scarring."
