A vet with entrepreneurial flair believes his Lower Hutt company has multimillion-dollar potential when it launches in the United States this year.

Brian Ward is the chief executive of Mesynthes, a company which produces an organic tissue substitute for people with burns or severe skin injuries.

Recently the company beat off stiff competition to win NZ Trade and Enterprise’s “Focus on Health” award for Kiwi companies trying to break into the US health market.

Mesynthes was founded two years ago after Mr Ward, who trained as a vet, spotted shortcomings in the tissue substitute market in the mid-1990s.

He had returned to New Zealand and to veterinary practice after carving out a career overseas in business development with several large healthcare companies including SmithKline and Beecham, for whom he ran the company’s African animal health business.

Employing scientists from Otago University and Industrial Research, he refined a product which not only replaces the patient’s tissue but encourages the patient’s cells to grow there and replace it.

He says it is really a twist on a concept that has been around for 10 to 15 years.

“For a very long time, people have been using things like collagen-based materials for some areas of tissue repair but what’s become more obvious recently is that how you process that tissue and, most importantly, what you leave behind after you process it is really important.”

Mesynthes uses tissue from sheep and strips it of its immunological components like cells and cell walls, leaving the regenerative material behind.

Mr Ward says the technique does not have the ethical issues of animal to human transplantation that other products do.

“Because you’re not implanting cells, then some of the immunological issues that you have, they’re not dramatic.

“These types of tissues are very well tolerated between species … because they’re very similar.”

Based at Industrial Research’s Petone site, the company has a team of 10 and is weighing up the logistics of going into production.

Its first product gained the crucial approval of the US Food and Drug Administration in January.

Mr Ward agrees it’s been a relatively quick journey to the marketplace, particularly as it has happened outside of a major research institute.

“I guess the difference is that it’s not something that’s fundamentally new. It’s something that we think is a considerable improvement on what’s currently available,” he says.

Mesynthes’ product has received good feedback from surgeons because it is strong and good at promoting blood vessel formation.

Its other advantage is it can be produced in large amounts, Mr Ward says.

“So particularly in some procedures where there’s large tissue deficits, we’re able to easily produce material that can be used in those situations, so again that’s regarded as very good.”

Mr Ward says the Focus on Health award had helped raised the company’s profile. “We have spent quite a bit of time in the States but this was an opportunity to open up some new networks and that’s been useful.”

// The company has focused on the US partly because acceptance there is “the gold standard” from a regulatory perspective, and partly because it is the largest healthcare market in the world.

“If it went really well, there’s certainly a large multimillion-dollar opportunity. If we manage to do somewhere between $40 million and $50m within five years, I think that’d be an exceptional result.”

The company plans to keep its intellectual property in New Zealand but is working to develop partnerships with distributors.

“From a production perspective, there’s no reason why we can’t do all the production here … but from a distribution, sales and marketing perspective, obviously the technology is very valuable in the hands of someone that’s very well established [in] sales and marketing.”

Dr. Epstein’s Thoughts

This article in the Detroit News is so timely considering I am now in Washington at the Joint Surgical Advocacy Conference where we will collectively fight for many issues that were left unaddressed in the most recent Health Care Reform bill.  One of the most important issues we are bringing to congress is to repeal the outdated and flawed, Medicare reimbursement system. If this law stays in effect, Physicians will see a 23% cut in medicare reimbursement rates as of December 1st of this year. This is just one of the many contributing factors that are forcing physicians to leave their independent private practices to work for big corporate hospitals, as is described in the Detroit News. Of course, the other factors, like rising costs of liability insurance, employee benefits, and general office costs also contribute to this problem. Unfortunately, this is secondarily contributing to other health care delivery issues, such as poor physician distribution, fewer doctors overall, and worsening quality of care.

By ANGELA CHARLTON (AP) – 4 days ago

Dr. Laurent Lantieri, a surgeon at Henri-Mondor hospital in Creteil, France, performed a full face transplant on a 35-year-old man with neurofibromatosis. “The most difficult part of the operation was to connect the tear duct that goes through the bone,” Lantieri said. The procedure could eventually be used to help burn victims. For more information click here:  Google/The Associated

Boy undergoes 19th facial reconstructive surgery at Ellis Health Center

A surgeon at Ellis Health Center in New York performed the 19th surgery on an Iranian boy born with no nose, one eye — in his temple — and his mouth at a 45-degree angle. Dr. Lucie Capek created a right nostril for young Mohammad Karimi. “Putting a smile on his face is so rewarding. He was so excited to have a nostril which was like a big big deal,” said Capek, who donated the surgery. WNYT-TV (Albany, N.Y.)

Dr. Epstein’s response:

At its very core, this is what Plastic Surgery is all about. Being innovative, using surgical skills to reshape, reform, and restore normal anatomy.  When we figure out how to control the immunological response to the transplanted tissue, then the possibilities are endless. Interestingly enough the first two articles are very much related. The more success we have with these full face transplants, the more people like the child in the second story will be able to be restored to a normal life.

Jaclyn Trop / The Detroit News

Though people are wary of spending full throttle again, they’re slowly opening their wallets for personal care, according to local dentists, orthodontists and plastic surgeons.

“I think they feel it’s stabilizing, whereas a year and a half ago they were concerned about their jobs,” said Dr. Michelle Hardaway with Aesthetic Plastic Surgery & Laser Center in Farmington Hills.

Hardaway said more clients are coming in for consultations and more are opting to have surgery, though her practice isn’t as busy as it was before the recession.

Many patients still have trouble getting financing for their surgeries and are often declined by third-party credit services.

While liposuction, rhinoplasty and breast augmentation remain popular, patients are also choosing cheaper nonsurgical procedures, including Botox, injectable fillers, laser hair removal and laser treatments for the face, Hardaway said.

Dr. Gregory Roche, a cosmetic surgeon in Bloomfield Hills, said appointments for surgical and nonsurgical procedures increased 50 or 60 percent this year over the same six-month period last year.

“People want to improve their image to get back to work or get a job, or they’re doing interim procedures as they wait,” Roche said.

Meanwhile, the Birmingham-based orthodontics firm Tyler Dumas Reyes credits its six-figure investment in new technology and training for its growth, including a third location set to open in Novi next month.

But patients aren’t as freewheeling as they used to be, Dr. John Dumas said.

“It used to be that they’d come in, sign on the dotted line and get going.”

Now, he says, they are more cautious before committing money.

jtrop@detnews.com (313) 222-2300

Dr. Epstein’s Thoughts

Cosmetic Surgery has definitely been on the slow but steady rise over the last year despite the meager growth in the general economy. I believe that this can be explained by the fact that people find it more acceptable to invest in themselves rather than on other items that may not seem like such a necessity. I also believe that even though financing is harder to obtain, people are saving for these procedures and paying for them with money in hand.  Prices may be slightly lower too.  Furthermore, some of this can be explained by pure numbers, especially in the Midwest.  I believe the numbers of people wanting and having elective cosmetic procedures in these areas are on the rise because they have always lagged behind the more traditional cosmetic surgery focused areas, like California, Southern Florida, and the East Coast.  It has generally become more acceptable now in the more conservative parts of the nation.

It doesn’t take a doctor to see that men and women carry fat differently. Men tend to pack it on in the belly, whereas women will find fat accumulating in their hips, butt and thighs. But while the difference may be apparent, the reason hasn’t been.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center recently analyzed fat genes in mice, who have a similar sex-based fat distribution pattern to humans. They found that male and female mice have very few fat genes in common. Therefore, male and female fat cells behave in completely different ways, giving way to dimorphic fat placement.

Women do have an advantage when it comes how where our fat tends to build up. Fat on the hips, thighs and butt is subcutaneous and therefore treatable with liposuction. However, belly fat in men is typically visceral and too deep to be treated with liposuction. The only way to reduce this kind of fat, which is considered a health risk, is with diet and exercise.

What the Expert Says…

Dr. Michael A. Epstein | Plastic Surgeon
There is no question that there is a clear difference in the way men and women tend to collect fat deposits on the body. I believe that these differences are anthropological in nature. Women tend to put fat on the upper, outer and inner thighs as well as the hips(waistline) and the lower abdomen to protect the womb for child bearing. Fortunately for them this fat is more accessible and therefore treatable by various body contouring operations. Although it is almost unheard of for a man to have a female fat distribution pattern, I have seen the occasional woman with more typical male fat distribution. There is another difference between fat on men and women and it actually pertains to the quality or intrinsic makeup of this fatty tissue. While the subcutaneous fat that is retrievable in most of the female population is more loose and globular, the typical male fat seems to be more dense and more entrenched in a richer fibrous network making it more difficult to remove by liposuction.

Message from the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery President Renato Saltz, MD…

On behalf of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and the Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation (ASERF), I cordially invite you to attend The Aesthetic Meeting 2010, “A Capital Experience with a Global Perspective”, April 22-27, 2010 at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center, Washington, D.C.

Aesthetic Plastic Surgery’s Global Scale and Scope: Leveraging the Specialty’s Core
The Aesthetic Meeting 2010 is the gateway of cutting edge education, collaboration and international networking opportunities for all who attend.  What distinguishes this meeting from the rest is that You will have exclusive access to a highly interactive and engaging educational forum with the complete scale and scope of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and advances in Cosmetic Medicine.  It’s the right time to become engaged and empowered by investing in your education, connecting and participating with colleagues and others from around the world. We encourage you to visit the impressive lineup of technical exhibits to learn more about the latest products and services showcased by our valued exhibitors and corporate supporters. You will be able to equip yourself with effective tools and key strategies to enhance your practice to successfully compete in the global arena of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Medicine.

In response to the recent New York Times article that seems to glamorize performing breast augmentation surgery under a local anesthetic, I can only tell you that “things aren’t always as they seem”.  On first glance, it would seem as though having any surgery under local anesthesia would be a plus.  I can tell you with no uncertainty, that the subspecialty of anesthesia medicine exists for a reason.  That reason is to allow patients to have surgery more comfortably and more safely.  Breast augmentation surgery should not be taken lightly.  Typically, this surgery is done most commonly on a thinner woman where the proposed breast implant pocket is very close to vital structures. Furthermore, most breast augmentations are placed in the submuscular pocket.  When this is the preferred placement, it is imperative that the muscle and the patient is relaxed.  Finally, one should never underestimate the potential side effects of larger volumes of local anesthetic and benefits of having another healthcare professional in the room that is highly trained in caring for the patient’s physiology.  This in turn allows the surgeon to concentrate on the anatomy and the surgery at hand.

Posted Wednesday, April 14, 2010  – New Beauty Magazine

Acne scars come in a variety of types, from raised, red marks to deep pockmarks that can take on a pitted or dented appearance. Smaller, superficial scars can often be reduced with a combination of treatments that remove dead skin cells and help resurface the skin, but fillers like Juvederm or Restylane can be used to treat more severe scars.When scars create a wavy contour, they can be easily corrected with fillers, which fill the empty space under the scar and help support it. Fillers used in acne scars last longer than when fillers are placed in other areas, like the lips or cheeks, because they are not a dynamic part of the face that is constantly moving.

Keep in mind, fillers are not suitable for “ice-pick” scars because they have a tendency to collect in the skin almost like a blackhead due to their depth.

What the Expert Says…

 Dr. Michael A. Epstein | Plastic Surgeon

Fillers are a great tool to use to help hide acne scarring. Acne scarring is often such a difficult problem that it needs to be treated with multiple modalities. Skin resurfacing with a laser and structural fat grafting are 2 treatments that I often employ in my practice.

]]> http://maeplasticsurgery.com/2010/04/fillers-for-acne-scars/feed/ 0 http://maeplasticsurgery.com/2010/04/fda-to-medspas-your-lipodissolve-claims-are-misleading/ http://maeplasticsurgery.com/2010/04/fda-to-medspas-your-lipodissolve-claims-are-misleading/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:36:45 +0000 Dr. Michael A. Epstein http://maeplasticsurgery.com/?p=1369

FDA to medspas: your lipodissolve claims are misleading

Posted Friday, April 09, 2010 New Beauty Magazine

After countless medical professionals have expressed concern over lipodissolve and the people performing it, the FDA has decided to start cracking down on medspas that offer this unproven “fat-melting” treatment.

Read more on FDA to MedSpas: Your Lipodissolve claims are misleading……

Posted Tuesday, March 23, 2010 New Beauty Magazine

An interesting study by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons shows that cosmetic surgery procedures can act as a mood and confidence enhancer. The research focused on 362 patients, 61 of whom were taking antidepressants at the time of their surgery.

Six months after surgery, the number of patients on antidepressants dropped to 42. Additionally, a whopping 98% of patients said that cosmetic surgery had markedly improved their self-esteem.

While it would be a stretch to say that plastic surgery alone is responsible for the decrease in antidepressant use, it is evident that the surgery factor warrants deeper investigation. It’s also imperative to share your full psychiatric history with your surgeon, as some clinically depressed patients may not be good candidates for surgery.

What the Expert Says…

Dr. Michael A. Epstein | Plastic Surgeon
On a superficial level, it is easy for me to say with confidence that elective cosmetic surgery does indeed have a positive effect on one’s self-esteem. I see this time and time again in my own practice. I am also very well aware of the fact that not all depression and not all depressed patients can be “cured” by cosmetic surgery. It is imperative that the surgeon identifies the true motivation behind the patient’s desire for surgical enhancement to a specific facial or body part. The surgeon must do his or her best to ensure that there are no underlying secondary desires that come along with the patient’s wishes for cosmetic surgery. The surgeon must also do his or her best to identify those patients who are under-treated or not treated at all for their depression. I truly believe that if the patient and the surgeon can come together and clearly identify the goals of the proposed surgical procedure, and the expectations for outcome, plastic surgery can be a very rewarding.