By Luis Raúl Vázquez Muñoz From Juventud Rebelde.co.cu

In addition to the 18 countries that Cuba has granted a license for the use of this drug, the only one of its kind in the world, others such as Russia, Brazil and China have expressed their interest.

CIEGO de AVILA. – A group of 14 nations, including Russia, Brazil and China, are in the process applying  to use in their hospitals Heberprot-P, a Cuban medicine and only one of its kind in the world capable of stimulating the growth of tissues and reversing acute lesions in the feet of diabetic patients.

The lawyer Erick Hernandez Leyva, a specialist of the Management Group for Promotion of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, said the drug has helped more than 200,000 people in Cuba and the world afflicted with diabetic foot ulcers in advanced and high risk of amputation.

“At present 18 countries, including the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Ecuador, Algeria, Mexico and Angola, have been granted the sanitary registration for use of this drug,” said the specialist, who is participating here in actions to extend coverage of the drug in the ten municipalities of Ciego de Avila.

In Cuba at present there are 348 medical centres and more than a thousand professionals trained in providing therapy as part of the National Programme for Diabetic Patients with foot lesions, by using advanced technologies through Heberprot-P.

For his part, Dr. Mislene Álvarez Hernández, head of the program and Angiology Services, said today the ten municipalities of the province have at least one hospital that has qualified personnel to apply this medicine for free to the public.

Heberprot-P is a drug produced by CIGTB, and is the only treatment of its kind in the world. It is used in the replacement of foot tissue severely damaged by diabetes, and its application has caused a considerable decrease in the risk of amputation and hospital stay, according to impact studies.

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From The US National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health

Heberprot-P: a novel product for treating advanced diabetic foot ulcer.

Source: Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), Havana, Cuba.

Abstract

Diabetic foot ulcer is a principal diabetic complication. It has been shown that diabetic patients have decreased growth factor concentrations in their tissues, particularly epidermal growth factor. Growth factor shortage impairs wound healing, which leads to chronic nonhealing wounds and sometimes eventual amputation.

Ischemic diabetic foot ulcer is the most difficult to treat and confers the highest amputation risk.

Injecting epidermal growth factor deep into the wound bottom and contours encourages a more effective pharmacodynamic response in terms of granulation tissue growth and wound closure. Epidermal growth factor injected into the ulcer matrix may also result in association with extracellular matrix proteins, thus enhancing cell proliferation and migration.

Heberprot-P is an innovative Cuban product containing recombinant human epidermal growth factor for peri- and intra-lesional infiltration; evidence reveals it accelerates healing of deep and complex ulcers, both ischemic and neuropathic, and reduces diabetes-related amputations.

Clinical trials of Heberprot-P in patients with diabetic foot ulcers have shown that repeated local infiltration of this product can enhance healing of chronic wounds safely and efficaciously.

As a result, Heberprot-P was registered in Cuba in 2006, and in 2007 was included in the National Basic Medications List and approved for marketing. It has been registered in 15 other countries, enabling treatment of more than 100,000 patients.

Heberprot-P is a unique therapy for the most complicated and recalcitrant chronic wounds usually associated with high amputation risk. Local injection in complex diabetic wounds has demonstrated a favorable risk-benefit ratio by speeding healing, reducing recurrences and attenuating amputation risk.

Further testing and deployment worldwide of Heberprot-P would provide an opportunity to assess the product’s potential to address an important unmet medical need.