LMS' Surgical Adhesion Product Outperforms J&J's Interceed?

Life Medical Sciences has reported that its bioresorbable product for preventing post-operative surgical adhesions, REPEL, performed better than an unnamed product, thought to be Johnson & Johnson's Interceed, the only approved product for this indication in the USA. Interceed was launched in 1989.

REPEL was compared to Interceed in a study of 30 rabbits which underwent major abdominal surgery. 15 of the rabbits were treated with the J&J product, while 15 were treated with REPEL. The study was designed to compare the efficacy of the two membranes in the presence of blood, which is known to increase the rate of adhesions. Seven out of the 15 Interceed-treated rabbits developed post-operative adhesions, while there were no cases among the REPEL-treated animals.

LMS has also conducted a series of controlled studies in which REPEL prevented the development of adhesions in 36 out of 37 animals tested. On the basis of these data, LMS hopes to gain approval to begin human trials in the USA.