The FINANCIAL — Viticell, the new medical device on the market, offers an innovative treatment for patients with non-progressive vitiligo or post-traumatic hypochromic scars by using autologous grafts in cellular suspension, either in the doctor’s surgery or hospital.
Having achieved excellent results in the domestic market of France, the UK Business Development Manager from Laboratoires Genévrier will be visiting the Aesthetics Conference and Exhibition 2015 on 7-8th March 2015 in London, to develop partnerships in the UK with specialist dermatology clinics, KOLs, and practitioners treating patients with vitiligo.
Vitiligo affects 0.5% to 2% of the population worldwide, and presents in two clinical forms: segmental and non-segmental. Due to its visible nature, this disease often triggers social withdrawal and can be very troubling for patients. Six in 10 patients fear the condition will worsen, and about one third of them report feelings of anger and shame, a tendency toward depression, as well as reporting an impact on their social life. Medical treatments for vitiligo include natural heliotherapy and, especially, high activity corticosteroids (class IV), immunomodulators, and associated phototherapy.
Surgical treatment is based on three autologous graft techniques. The oldest method is the full-thickness skin graft. The second, the split-thickness skin graft, consists in the direct application of a dermal-epidermal graft, harvested using a dermatome, on to the depigmented area which has previously undergone dermabrasion treatment. For the autologous epidermal graft in cellular suspension, the harvesting methods are the same as for the previous technique, but include an additional step: the use of an enzyme solution to dissociate the epidermis from the dermis so as to collect keratinocyte and melanocyte cells from the epidermal tissue. This step takes the solution from a solid to liquid phase, through the cellular suspension of the harvested epidermal cells. When applied to the area previously treated by dermabrasion, cellular suspension makes it possible to treat a surface area 5 to 10 times as large as the biopsy.
According to European recommendations, the autologous graft in cellular suspension is indicated in cases of segmental or localised vitiligo after failure of classic medical treatments, such as phototherapy, and in non-segmental vitiligo that has been stable for at least 6 months in patients with no previous history of Koebner phenomenon. In the case of segmental vitiligo, it is possible to obtain significant repigmentation (95%) that lasts for 5 years in 84% of patients . The cell graft may also be a therapeutic option for the treatment of hypochromic or achromic scars following burns or laser treatments, for example.
Viticell obtained CE marking in October 2013 and is therefore authorised for sale within the UK. The benefit of using the melanocyte graft using Viticell is the accelerated repigmentation process achieved by using the patient’s own cells to repigment his or her depigmented lesions. Thanks to a single-use, standardised procedure that is GMP compliant, it is now possible to treat a depigmented area of up to 100cm2 in 1 to 2 hours either in the doctor’s surgery or clinic, or at the hospital. One of the principal innovations of Viticell® lies in suspending isolated cells in hyaluronic acid (HA) during the dermal-epidermal separation. The addition of HA allows a more viscous cell suspension, giving better adhesion and diffusion when it is applied to the area ready for the skin graft.
Viticell expands the therapeutic arsenal either at the hospital or the doctor’s surgery, making it possible to treat patients suffering from vitiligo where previous conventional treatments no longer allow for repigmentation.
Viticell in 5 steps:
1 – Harvest thin skin sample (4-20cm2)
2 – Skin digestion and collection of epidermal cells with Viticell
3 – Resuspension in Hyaluronic Acid (HA)
4 – Cell graft onto the area previously treated with dermabrasion (<100cm2)
5 – Option to use post-graft phototherapy to augment repigmentation
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