Federal agency funds promising burn treatment

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has awarded a contract to Novan Therapeutics to develop a topical nitric-oxide-based burn therapy.

BARDA, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, awarded Novan a two-year, $7.8 million contract to fund the development of nitric oxide advanced healing (NOAH) technology, a topical treatment for burns. The grant is intended to cover formulation work, nonclinical toxicology, and proof-of-concept studies in models of deep partial thickness and full thickness thermal injuries, with the goal of enabling future clinical investigation.

Peer-reviewed studies have shown that nitric oxide can speed the migration of epidermal cells, stimulate new blood vessel growth, modulate inflammation and remodel wound beds. The contracted research into nitric oxide-based therapy as a burn treatment will bolster Novan’s existing research into NOAH technology as a treatment for combat wounds, multi-drug-resistant infections and chronic wounds.

“We hope to demonstrate that an advanced medical countermeasure can be manufactured, is safe and is effective at healing a wide variety of burn injuries,” Nathan Stasko, Ph.D., president and founder of Novan, tells Dermatology Times. “That is our goal.”

One of the potential uses of NOAH therapy is in case of a mass-casualty event resulting in more burn wounds than present the current burn-treatment infrastructure would be able to handle.