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With more than 1 million successful implants and grafts to date, AlloDerm supports rapid revascularization, remodeling and transition to specific host tissue…resulting in tissue replacement that looks, acts, and responds like the original.
AlloDerm Defined
Welcome to a unique and excitingly different reality in tissue repair: tissue regeneration with AlloDerm as an excellent biological framework to harness nature's own regenerative healing process.
AlloDerm Defined
Core technology: AlloDerm is an acellular dermal matrix derived from donated human skin tissue supplied by US AATB-compliant tissue banks utilizing the standards of the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) guidelines. Since AlloDerm is regarded as minimally processed and not significantly changed in structure from the natural material, the FDA has classified it as banked human tissue.
AlloDerm begins with natural tissue
Human skin consists of both epidermis and dermis. In nature, the dermis contains a framework of biochemical and structural components that allow it to regenerate and replace itself continually throughout life. This complex natural framework consists of a three-dimensional arrangement of:
Proteins with a structurally intact basement membrane
Intact collagen fibers and bundles to support tissue ingrowth
Intact elastin filaments for biomechanical integrity
Hyaluronan and proteoglycans
How is AlloDerm modified from natural tissue?
When AlloDerm is prepared, the human donor tissue undergoes a multi-step proprietary process that removes both the epidermis and the cells that can lead to tissue rejection and graft failure, without damaging the matrix.
Once the dermal tissue has been decellularized, the final step is preservation. The processed tissue matrix is preserved with a patented freeze-drying process that prevents damaging ice crystals from forming.
What components are left after this process?
The cells responsible for immune response and graft rejection are removed. What remains is a matrix or framework of the natural biological components, which allows the body to mount its own tissue regeneration process.
Here is some more info on the regeneration process of Alloderm....
Here is some information on the strength of the material:
If you want to know how Lifecell has been doing the last few months, check out the graph from Yahoo Finance or the IHUB graph.....
Here is some information on KCI purchase of LifeCell Corporation from SeekingAlpha:
Status Report: LifeCell - Kinetic Concepts
by The M & A Researcher
The purchase of LifeCell Corporation (LIFC) looks like a fairly routine acquisition by Kinetic Concepts Inc. (KCI) from a regulatory and timing standpoint, although the products/services involved certainly are not routine. LIFC is in the business of creating and selling human tissue repair/replacement products derived directly from human and animal soft tissue. This is obviously a relatively new industry in terms of public availability, and as such the markets for LIFC's products have not fully been established at this point. The company quite obviously competes with a variety of companies that offer a wide range of alternative approaches to soft tissue repair.
Listed in LIFC's annual report are the following competitors:
Our tissue matrix products compete with synthetic surgical mesh products marketed by such large medical device companies as Johnson Johnson; C.R. Bard; W.L. Gore Associates; and Integra Life Sciences Holdings Corporation. They also compete with animal-derived products marketed by companies such as C.R. Bard; Cook, Inc.; and Tissue Science Laboratories, plc. Two tissue processors, Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation [“MTF] and Tutogen, distribute human tissue-based products that compete with our products. MTF distributes its products through a direct sales force and through Synthes, Inc. and Johnson Johnson. Tutogen distributes its products through C.R. Bard and Mentor.
Our AlloCraft DBM product competes with other similar bone repair products produced by companies such as Regeneration Technologies, Inc.; Osteotech, Inc.; AlloSource; Wright Medical Group; Isotis Orthobiologics; and MTF.
This is purely a vertical move for KIC, which specializes in wound and tissue repair and after care via non-living tissue processes. Although the products are somewhat similar in a broad sense, the companies respective products are quite different -- KIC does not offer living-tissue products -- and address different physical treatment areas. Even if the companies did actually have directly competing, overlapping niche products, this combination probably would not draw much regulatory interest due to the variety of alternatives currently on the market.
In short, KCI should be able to complete this transaction in well under 60 days, and probably very close to a 45-day time frame.
