Apligraf^®

Apligraf^® is a living cell based therapy indicated for the treatment of venous leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers. These wounds are open wounds that for a variety of reasons fail to heal by the body's own systems.
Venous leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers are amongst the most frequently occurring chronic wounds, affecting nearly two million people every year in the United States alone.

A diabetic foot ulcer hampers mobility and can lead to amputation. Venous leg ulcers can also impair mobility and have a negative impact on quality of life. Good conventional wound care, consisting of infection control, cleaning, and keeping pressure off the wound and other such basic approaches, can often close these wounds.
Roughly a third of these chronic wounds, however, fail to heal, and a more active approach is needed.

Apligraf^® is designed to kick start the body's natural healing process in these hard to heal patients. Apligraf^® is the first bio-engineered cell therapy to receive FDA approval (in 1998). Apligraf^® is the only commercially available bi-layered bio-engineered cell based product. The two layers of Apligraf^® , as in regular skin, make it effective in speeding up wound healing and achieving healing in wounds previously unresponsive to treatment.

Apligraf^® is a 44 square centimeter circular bio-engineered cell construct, which when placed on a wound integrates into the wound thus helping the wound to heal. Apligraf^® has been used in over 200,000 patients. On average, each patient is treated with one to two applications of this living cell therapy.
Apligraf^® is being studied in pre-market clinical studies for the treatment of, burns and epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic disease characterized by the presence of extremely fragile skin and recurrent blister formation, resulting from minor mechanical friction or trauma.

For more information on Apligraf^® please visit www.apligraf.com, and for more information on epidermolysis bullosa, please visit www.debra.org.