MediWound to supply pineapple-based burn treatment to UAE's Ghassan Aboud Group

"GAG, through its healthcare arm, has extensive knowledge and experience in wound care and has a strong reach into the major clinical institutions in the UAE," said Sharon Malka, CEO of MediWound

Israeli Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical company MediWound Ltd. announced on Tuesday the signing of an agreement with Ghassan Aboud Group (GAG), an international conglomerate based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the exclusive right to market and distribute NexoBrid in the UAE for the treatment of severe burns.

 

The distribution agreement for NexoBrid, which is a pineapple enzyme-based topical treatment for the removal of dead tissue from burn wounds for public health medical emergencies, will commence after regulatory approval will be secured, which is expected to be within a year.

MediWound's team after signing the agreement with GAG. Photo: MediWound

 

“We are truly excited to partner with GAG to bring NexoBrid to the UAE,” said Sharon Malka, CEO of MediWound. “This partnership is an important consequence of the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement signed recently between Israel and the UAE. GAG, through its healthcare arm, Gaelan Medical Trade LLC, has extensive knowledge and experience in wound care and has a strong reach into the major clinical institutions in the UAE."

 

Headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, GAG also has business operations in Australia, Belgium, Jordan, and Turkey. GAG has been engaged in several business sectors including healthcare, automotive, hospitality, real estate, retail, catering, logistics, pastoral, trade, distribution, and media for more than two decades.

 

“We are pleased to partner with MediWound to bring NexoBrid to our markets in the UAE. Our goal is always to pioneer, excel and make an impact, which we have been doing so for 26 years now," said Ghassan Aboud, Chairman of Ghassan Aboud Group. "I am certain that with our extensive distribution network and market reach, and with MediWound's innovative drug we will be able to improve the standard of care of burn patients and I strongly believe NexoBrid will be an instrumental part of the future treatment for burn patients everywhere."

 

In January of this year MediWound signed a $16.5 million contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to supply it with NexoBrid.

 

In January 2019, MediWound announced positive top-line results from the acute phase of the pivotal Phase 3 U.S. clinical study (DETECT) of NexoBrid in adult patients with deep partial-and full-thickness thermal burns up to 30 percent of total body surface area. On September 16, 2020, the FDA accepted for review the Company’s Biologics License Application (BLA) for eschar removal (debridement) in adults with deep partial-thickness and/or full-thickness thermal burns and was assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target date of June 29, 2021.

 

MediWound’s second product, EscharEx is a topical biological drug candidate for the debridement of chronic and other hard-to-heal wounds using the same proteolytic enzyme technology as NexoBrid. In two Phase 2 studies, EscharEx has demonstrated safety and efficacy in the debridement of various chronic and other hard-to-heal wounds, within a few daily applications.