Florida-based biotech BioXtek is pioneering the use of placental tissue-derived products in regenerative medicine. The company’s proprietary BIOPUR process ensures the preservation of essential bioactive properties and has resulted in highly effective regenerative therapies using amniotic fluid and Wharton’s jelly, components that create an optimal anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic environment conducive to healing and regeneration.
Longevity.Technology: BioXtek’s therapies are available as a variety of membrane patches derived from the human placental sac and tailored to meet different medical needs, from minor wounds to more complex healing requirements. These patches, available in single-layer to quad-layer configurations, leverage the synergy of bioactive molecules to enhance cell proliferation, angiogenesis and tissue regeneration while preventing fibrosis. Additionally, BioXtek is integrating advanced technologies like nanotechnology and AI-driven analytics to further refine the delivery and effectiveness of these therapies, positioning itself as a leader in the field of regenerative medicine that is bringing novel therapeutics to mainstream medicine.
We sat down with BioXtek’s CEO Dr Bruce Werber to find out more about innovating regeneration and proving that mechanism of action to the world.
Bruce Werber on…
Therapeutic potential
BioXtek’s major thrust at the moment is using components of the placental sac and the umbilical cord to make patches that come in a variety of sizes and in multiple layers just like the placental sac. These multi-layered membranes are used for most notably wound care. They accelerate the healing of wounds, including diabetic wounds, and third degree burns without leaving any scarring. As well as being used as a covering or a replacement for the pericardium of the heart, these membranes are extremely beneficial in spine surgery and neurosurgery as a replacement for the dura, the covering of the brain and the spine.
A potential secondary use is in orthopedics for tendon repair and for making very small nerve tunnels to help nerves regrow or nerves to grow without scarring. These membranes are very powerful anti-fibroitic, so they stop scarring and they also provide an anti-inflammatory environment, so they’re very, very powerful, just the membranes alone.
Another product, which is undergoing full regulatory approval from FDA, involves Wharton’s jelly and the amniotic fluid, but this will be a therapeutic product. It is not available commercially as of yet as we have to go through what’s called an IND, Investigative New Drug Application, to ultimately achieve a biologics license. So this is a multi-year process. But do note that we have proof of concept studies for this product.
The cosmetic angle
Using the contents of the umbilical cord, which is named Wharton’s Jelly, and combining it with amniotic fluid, BioXtex has created a fully registered topical cosmetic. This product can potentially be beneficial in fine wrinkling, improving the temperature and turgor of your skin when applied topically.
We have a small cosmetic study that is just concluding, showing the improvement of the skin from topical application of this product. And really what we find is that it’s the exosome component of the combination of the amniotic fluid and the Wharton’s jelly that are having a very positive effect on the facial skin. A number of patients have tried this topically on their scalp and seen improvement in hair growth.
One of the keys to success in using these regenerative therapeutics is creating signaling. We have to stimulate the tissue, we have to stimulate the blood supply, and doing so starts the whole regenerative cascade of building collagen – really recruiting the customer’s own system to regenerate the tissue in the face, assisting or accelerating that regenerative process. So we’re working with other vendors to combine technologies to have the most efficacious improvement in facial aesthetics.
Proving the point
We have a study just getting started on using the membrane as a covering to the heart. And there are some interesting findings; aside from helping to decrease the inflammation on the heart, there are also some early findings suggesting that the membrane is improving the electrical field or the functioning of the heart as shown on an EKG, improving how the heart is functioning. So we have some very interesting findings that hopefully in the very near future will be published. And we do know from over the last 10, 15 years of use in spine surgery that when you lay in this membrane, it reduces the scarring and improves the outcomes of spine surgery, but it also, if you have to go back for surgery on another level, it decreases the surgical time because there’s not a lot of scar binding the tissue to the bone or to even the nerves. And we’ve found that in plastic surgery, when you use the membrane, it also reduces scarring. So it also improves the outcomes in plastic surgery.
Read our earlier detailed interview with Dr Bruce Werber HERE and find out more about BioXtek’s range of regenerative products HERE.
