Derma Sciences adds XTRASORB Foam dressing to advanced wound care product portfolio

May 4 2010

Derma Sciences, Inc., a medical device and pharmaceutical company focused on advanced wound care, announced the launch of its new XTRASORB™ Foam dressing. The dressing is the company's first novel entry in the $300 million foam wound dressing market. First sales are expected during the second quarter of 2010.

The majority of chronic wounds tend to have moderate to heavy levels of wound fluid, which is best managed with absorbent dressings. For the past 25 years, a key type of dressing for this function has been polyurethane foam dressings. In fact, within the past 5 years, this category of dressings has surpassed hydrocolloids as the leading absorbent dressing used for moist wound healing. Since the advent of these dressings over 20 years ago, the basic mechanical aspects of the dressings have remained largely the same.

XTRASORB™ Foam has been designed to provide a marked advancement to standard polyurethane foam dressings. The difference is on the outer facing portion of the dressing. Bonded to this side is a patented super absorbent polymer (SAP) sheet. The SAP sheet not only allows XTRASORB™ Foam to absorb significantly more fluid than market leading foam dressings, but the technology also allows the fluid to be locked into the dressing. This greatly reduces the chances of wound deterioration due to constant exposure to large amounts of wound fluid, and also minimizes the exposure to harmful components within wound fluid such as bacteria. These benefits are aimed to greatly enhance both the clinical and cost-effectiveness of XTRASORB™ Foam versus current market leading offerings.

"XTRASORB™ Foam adds another strong product to Derma Sciences' advanced wound care product portfolio," stated Edward J. Quilty, Chairman and CEO of Derma Sciences. "Foam dressings are the largest category of moist wound care dressings, and our product outperforms its competitors on multiple clinical efficacy dimensions. We expect that incremental sales from XTRASORB™ Foam will help us hit our advanced wound care sales goals for 2010, and are confident that we will continue to grow sales in 2011 and 2012 as we begin to take market share. Additionally, these line extensions continue to deliver strong gross margins. Therefore, we believe that XTRASORB™ Foam will have long-term positive impact on our profitability."

Source Derma Sciences, Inc.