Argentum Medical awarded BARDA contract valued up to $16.5 million, including options, if exercised, to repurpose Silverlon® burn and wound trauma dressings for use in mass casualty incidents involving radiation or chemical exposure.

GENEVA, Ill., Oct. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Argentum Medical, an industry leading manufacturer of metallic silver based antimicrobial wound dressings, announced today that it has been awarded a contract by Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).  Under this contract, Argentum Medical will conduct studies to evaluate the use of its Silverlon® brand burn and wound trauma dressings for potential use on patients affected by mass casualty incidents involving radiation or vesicant exposure.

BARDA supports the advanced research, development, and procurement of medical countermeasures against a variety of national security threats including, but not limited to, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents.  

While all types of traumatic injuries are encountered in mass casualty incidents, burn injuries are a particular problem as burn treatment is lengthy, expensive, and resource-intensive.  The vast majority of burn disasters in the last century have involved thermal burns and, for this reason, present disaster plans concentrate on burns resulting from thermal injury.  With the increased threat of nuclear and chemical terrorism, disaster plans call for a long-lasting antimicrobial dressing indicated for use in the management of combined injuries involving thermal, radiation, and chemical burns.  If a mass casualty incident occurs, casualties are likely to exceed the capacity of the existing burn unit infrastructure. Therefore, an effective, long-lasting, and deployable dressing may be an essential countermeasure.

The contract consists of a two-year base contract totaling $7.8 million, with a possible additional three years of options, pending successful completion of critical milestones. The contract and options will fund the necessary research for Argentum Medical to generate the data needed to complete the FDA approval process for two new indications for Silverlon burn and wound trauma dressings.  The new indications to be pursued under the contract are for burns resulting from exposure to ionizing radiation and from chemical burns resulting from exposure to vesicant chemical weapons such as sulfur mustard.

"We are confident our research will demonstrate Silverlon is safe and effective for the indication for use on radiation and chemical burns.  The BARDA contract recognizes the prospect for Silverlon's use in complex traumatic injuries," states Raul Brizuela, President and CEO of Argentum Medical. "We are honored to be part of this important countermeasures initiative and for our role in assisting the injured in a time of great need."

Silverlon burn and trauma dressings have been effective for the management of soft tissue injuries in austere and civilian environments including open fractures, blast and burn injuries, and traumatic amputations.  The dressings are effective, easy to use, store, and transport and are not highly sensitive to environmental extremes.  Silverlon burn and wound trauma dressings are currently being used throughout the United States Military and were extensively used by Combat and Support Hospital facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan and by Air Force Critical Care Air Transport teams.  Additionally, Silverlon is widely used in the civilian market, having been adopted by hundreds of hospitals and a number of major Universities and leading medical centers throughout the United States of America.

Adding indications for chemical and radiation burn injury to Silverlon's existing thermal burn and wound indications would allow stockpiling of one product for multiple mass casualty use on combined injuries, including radiation and chemical burns. This could prove extremely beneficial in mass casualty situations, where treatment needs to be deployed quickly and responders may not have advanced medical training.

This project has been funded with Federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under Contract No. HHSO100201300019C.

About Silverlon

Silverlon dressings are metallic silver based antimicrobial barrier dressings designed to cover burns and trauma wounds quickly and easily and have been shown to be highly effective in austere military war conditions.  All Silverlon products are applied in a similar manner and have simple instructions for use.

Silverlon is a unique, metallic silver plated dressing that has been shown effective in numerous clinical studies.  It has been shown effective in surgical site infections, chronic wounds, burns and negative pressure wound therapy.  Studies have also demonstrated Silverlon's effectiveness in hostile and stressful environments.

Silverlon is incorporated into numerous deployed Medical Tactical Combat Casualty Care kits, and is also supplied in bulk to Combat and Support Hospitals and Tactical Forward Surgical Teams.  It is also included in burn care protocols in the Joint Theater Trauma System Clinical Practice Guideline.  Silverlon burn products and protocols are extensively used by the US Army and by US Air Force Critical Care Air Transport (CCAT) teams and are taught at the US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine Critical Care Air Transport Basic Course.

About Argentum Medical
Argentum Medical is a privately held company that manufactures and distributes Silverlon burn, wound care, and surgical dressings to the U.S. military and to hospitals throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. It has ISO 13485 certified production facilities in Geneva, IL and Salem, SC.  For more information about Argentum or Silverlon, please visit silverlon.com.

SOURCE Argentum Medical