SAN ANTONIO--()--Kinetic Concepts, Inc. announced today that it has completed its acquisition of MoMelan Technologies, Inc., a privately held medical technology company developing innovative skin grafting solutions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Based in Cambridge, MA, MoMelan Technologies was founded in 2009 as a spin-off from the labs of Prof. Rox Anderson at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The company’s mission is to standardize autologous skin grafting to serve patients who could benefit from epidermal grafts.
“MoMelan will strengthen KCI’s reputation as an innovation leader and nicely complement our objective to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” said Joe Woody, president & CEO, KCI. “We’re excited about the work they are doing, and we look forward to bringing to market technologies that improve healing and surgical outcomes.”
MoMelan developed an innovative epidermal grafting solution utilizing donor site-sparing technology for enabling and standardizing the use of epidermal skin grafting that can be performed in the office or outpatient setting with minimal discomfort. This technology enables a consistent and reproducible harvest of autologous grafts of uniform thickness that are immediately applied to the recipient site.
“Our basic research demonstrated the opportunity to utilize epidermal grafting – an important, but underutilized treatment modality – in everyday clinical practice. This work led to the collaboration between MGH and MoMelan Technologies,” said Prof. Rox Anderson, director, Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. “I am very pleased to see that the technology has been developed to its full potential and will soon be available to patients.”
The technology’s value in skin grafting procedures makes it a strategic fit into the KCI portfolio of negative pressure technologies. The KCI V.A.C.® Therapy System is recognized as the gold standard in negative pressure wound therapy by clinicians around the world. For many wounds, MoMelan’s skin grafting solution is the next logical step in the treatment before final closure.
“V.A.C.® Therapy begins the healing process and stimulates the production of granulation tissue, however, it stops short of being able to heal the surface of the wound. This new technology we have acquired completes the healing process by healing the surface of the wound without the need for a full skin graft,” said Woody. “This is just one of the ways in which we are looking to expand our traditional offering with adjacent technologies that add incremental value to our existing product portfolio.”
“As an innovator in wound care, KCI has always provided leading treatments for our patients and providers,” said Peter Arnold, senior vice president, Innovation and Strategic Marketing, KCI. “This innovation is a quick and relatively painless approach to harvesting a patient’s skin cells for grafting and other therapeutic procedures.”
“We are very excited about the acquisition of MoMelan by KCI,” said Sameer Sabir, former CEO, MoMelan Technologies. “KCI has proven they have the expertise to develop, commercialize and bring to market exciting technologies that end up changing the practice of medicine.”
KCI expects to commercially launch this innovative solution by the end of 2013.
About KCI
Kinetic Concepts, Inc. is a leading global medical technology company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of innovative, high-technology therapies and products for the wound care and therapeutic support system markets. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, KCI has significantly advanced the science of wound healing over the course of more than three decades. KCI success can be traced to a history deeply rooted in innovation and a passion for significantly improving patient outcomes while reducing the overall cost of care for patients around the world. Proprietary KCI negative pressure technologies have revolutionized the way in which caregivers treat a wide variety of wound types. The V.A.C.® Therapy System has been used on more than 7 million wounds worldwide. Additional information about KCI and its products is available at www.KCI1.com.