A METHOD developed in York of regenerating tissue of patients operated on to remove skin cancers has received half funding for the £345,000 project.

Neotherix, based at the Research Centre at York Science Park, has been refining EktoTherix, a dressing used to heal surgical wounds after skin cancer operations with the help of Lorien Engineering Solutions of the Midlands and York-based Smith & Nephew Advanced Wound Management.

Now Matrix Knowledge Group has joined the trio to evaluate the economics of putting the invention into clinical practice.

And the Technology Strategy Board is funding half the estimated cost of taking the therapy to its next stage of development.

A massive market awaits the consortium, estimated at £360 million per year. In the US alone, skin cancers account for more than 50 per cent of all cancers. The cost of treating the 1.3 million cases of non melanoma skin cancer each year is $1.5 billion. In the UK there are expected to be 100,000 new cases diagnosed this year.

By applying a patch of EktoTherix to the post operative wound, it acts as “scaffolding” for the fissure to be closed by the patient’s own skin cells, avoiding the need for grafting skin tissue from elsewhere on the patient and cutting down on healing time.

Meanwhile further clinical applications for the wound dressing are being explored.

Mike Raxworthy, chief executive of Neotherix, said: “This Technology Strategy Board funded project will continue the development of the product towards full commercialisation.”

He said it would allow his team to conduct confirmatory preclinical testing for effectiveness and safety, and perform production trials. After a clinical evaluation of the product, it is expected to be launched in late 2012.

Iain Gray, the Technology Strategy Board’s chief executive, said: “Regenerative medicine has already provided significant medical advances in areas such as skin regeneration for burns patients, and it has the potential to offer cures and treatments with long-term benefits.

“The UK is a world leader in this area, with a strong science base. For us to fulfil our potential in this field, a number of development challenges need to be overcome, so that British business – and the wider economy – can benefit from the successful commercial exploitation of promising discoveries.”