Maggots are effective at cleaning wounds. They are approved by NICE in the UK, but are not used widely, due to difficult logistics and very short shelf-life, as well as poor acceptance by patients and healthcare professionals. A gel or cream preparation containng the active components of maggots would be ideal.

Sherwood's wound care technologies are derived from our expertise in identifying and isolating bio-active molecules secreted by maggots. Our technologies, which are protected by a comprehensive patent portfolio, address key aspects of wound healing, including:

• the removal of dead tissue (debridement)
• disinfection
• the stimulation of new tissue growth

Currently, there is a large gap in the market. Although a number of products containing a variety of enzymes have been sold in the past for debridement, none of these has been approved by the regulatory authorities in Europe or the USA, due to lack of efficacy and toxicity. Indeed, the FDA ordered several to be withdrawn from the market in 2008. Sherwood's technologies are being used to develop a range of effective wound-care products that will fill this gap and remove the difficulties associated with the storage and use of live maggots.

See stimulation of tissue growth into a wound space over 48 hours by maggot-derived entities

Click here for further information and to view a video outlining our research