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news.NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development and commercialization of its non-antibiotic anti-infective products, has signed an exclusive distribution agreement for NovaBay’s NeutroPhase Skin and Wound Cleanser with the Biopharm Group, a leading pharmaceutical company in the Middle East, headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
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Under the terms of the agreement, Biopharm will market NeutroPhase in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan and Libya.
Saudi Arabia, in particular, is a large potential market for NeutroPhase. The nation’s per capita income is $51,800 — more than $8500 higher than Canada’s — and its rates of chronic diseases like diabetes are rising.
The increase in chronic diseases, in turn, means a higher rate of medical problems like diabetic ulcers, for which NeutroPhase is an FDA-cleared adjunct treatment. In fact, researchers report that the number of lower limb amputations due to unhealed diabetic ulcers in Saudi Arabia is climbing rapidly. More effective treatments for those wounds could save those limbs — while also lowering overall medical costs.
"NeutroPhase can make a major difference to patients in countries like Saudi Arabia," said Dr. Ron Najafi, Chairman and CEO of NovaBay.
"With the help of Biopharm’s experienced team, we will be able to reach those patients and their doctors. The agreement reflects our overall strategy of making our products available to patients around the globe, following on similar agreements that make NeutroPhase available in the US and international markets in China, South Korea, and Southeast Asia."
"We are pleased to partner with NovaBay because we believe that NeutroPhase can enhance management of chronic wounds, especially diabetic foot ulcers, prevalent in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East North Africa region," added Dr. Osama Kandil, Chairman and CEO of Biopharm.
NovaBay’s FDA-cleared NeutroPhase has shown success in the management of chronic wounds, such as diabetic ulcers. As cited in a paper published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Burns and Trauma, "Patients showed a profound improvement after treatment with NeutroPhase, both with and without NPWT (negative pressure wound therapy). NeutroPhase was shown to be non-toxic to living tissues."
NeutroPhase is the only skin and wound care product to contain Neutrox™, NovaBay’s patented and proprietary pure hypochlorous acid (HOCl). Laboratory tests show that Neutrox, which is chemically identical to a naturally occurring substance released by white blood cells to fight microbial invaders, has potent antimicrobial activity, yet is non-toxic to normal healthy cells.
Laboratory tests also demonstrate that Neutrox neutralizes bacterial toxins, and has been cleared by the Food & Drug Administration to clean skin and wounds as well as for the management of pressure, diabetic and venous stasis ulcers that can seriously affect a patient’s morbidity and mortality.
NeutroPhase has also been used successfully as part of a new treatment regimen to save the lives and limbs of victims of life-threatening flesh-eating disease, as Dr. John Crew, director of the Advanced Wound Care Center at Seton Medical Center in Daly City, Calif., and NovaBay researchers reported in the journal WOUNDS.