Around 425 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, and in Switzerland it is estimated that a good 500,000 patients are affected. Chronic wounds in the foot and lower leg area are a particularly dreaded late consequence of this disease. Around one in three patients develops a foot ulcer in the course of their lives. A third of these do not heal with conventional standard therapies.
The alternative to amputation
All too often, a foot has to be amputated. Geistlich Derma-Gide® helps to avoid this radical intervention with efficient wound healing. Niklaus Stiefel, Principal Scientist, Product Development at Geistlich, sums up the product's mode of action as follows: "The key to success lies in obtaining the best from two raw materials and in close cooperation with clinicians. The result: Geistlich Derma-Gide® mimics the skin, helps close wounds and can prevent amputations."
From US approval to recommended use
Geistlich Derma-Gide® is currently approved and launched in the USA. Like every Geistlich Pharma development, the new wound matrix was also created under one Central Swiss roof. In 2017, the product gained FDA approval in the USA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In 2018, the pre-launch (pilot phase) confirmed the clinical performance, plus the achievements of ease of use. Finally, in 2019, the launch took place in the U.S. market. Since then, Geistlich Derma-Gide® has been listed for use and thus recommended by numerous American health insurers. Geistlich Pharma is delighted to receive the recognition award from the Central Switzerland Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ihz).