Science

Advancing the biology of wound healing

Chronic wounds are not simply wounds that take longer to heal. They result from a disrupted healing process in which persistent inflammation, impaired cellular activity and altered tissue repair prevent normal healing progression.

Platform: Bacterial cellulose scaffold
Payload: Acellular regenerative payloads
Stage: Preclinical development

01 · The unmet need

A disrupted healing process

Chronic wounds, including pressure ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg ulcers, remain one of the most significant unmet needs in healthcare.

A gloved clinician pressing a gauze dressing against an open chronic wound on a patient’s forearm. The wound margin is raised and inflamed, and the skin around it is reddened.

Millions of patients worldwide are affected

Prolonged healing times and high recurrence rates

Severe impact on quality of life and mobility

Substantial burden on healthcare systems

Normal wound healing progresses through coordinated phases of inflammation, proliferation and tissue remodelling.

In chronic wounds, this process becomes disrupted. Persistent inflammation, impaired vascularisation, altered cellular signalling and microbial burden can prevent progression toward effective tissue repair.

The challenge is therefore not only to protect the wound, but to help restore an environment that supports the biological processes required for healing.

Normal wound repair progresses through four phases: haemostasis, inflammation, proliferation and remodelling. In a chronic wound the process recirculates within the inflammation phase, shown by a loop arrow, and does not progress to proliferation or remodelling. The arrows onward from inflammation are drawn as broken lines to show that progression fails. Four factors sustain the loop: bacterial biofilm, persistent inflammatory signalling, elevated protease activity, and impaired angiogenesis. — Normal repair progresses through haemostasis, inflammation, proliferation and remodelling. In a chronic wound the process recirculates within inflammation and does not progress.

02 · The problem

An environment that impairs normal tissue repair

Chronic wounds are characterised by persistent inflammation, impaired oxygenation and increased susceptibility to bacterial infection, creating an environment that impairs normal tissue repair.

Biofilm and infectionBacterial colonisation and biofilm formation can create major barriers to healing in chronic wounds.

Chronic inflammationPersistent inflammation prevents normal progression toward proliferation and tissue repair.

Protease excessElevated protease activity can degrade the extracellular matrix and bioactive signals required for tissue repair.

Impaired regenerationAngiogenesis, extracellular matrix formation and re-epithelialisation are impaired, limiting effective tissue regeneration.

Each of these factors affects a different aspect of the healing process, highlighting the need for an integrated approach that combines wound protection, infection control and active regenerative support.

03 · The platform

One integrated regenerative approach

Komava combines complementary technologies within a single advanced wound dressing. The platform integrates three essential therapeutic functions within a single system: maintenance of a moist and protective wound environment, control of infection through antimicrobial activity, and controlled delivery of bioactive signals designed to restore key biological processes involved in tissue regeneration.

The four functions of the platform. Functions shown separately for clarity.

01Biomaterial scaffold (BC)

Bacterial cellulose is a nanofibrous biomaterial produced by bacterial fermentation. Its dense, randomly oriented fibril network provides structural integrity, high water retention and close adherence to the wound surface.

In the Komava platform the BC scaffold is both the physical dressing and the delivery architecture. Its fibre network gives the mechanical and hydration properties of an advanced dressing while providing the internal volume in which the acellular regenerative payload is held and released.

A magnified circular view of the bacterial cellulose scaffold, showing a dense network of randomly oriented nanofibril ribbons with water held in the spaces between them. Three properties are called out: structural integrity from the entangled fibril network; very high water retention within the open network; and close conformity to the wound surface.

02Wound environment

A hydrogel environment maintained across the wound surface, designed to preserve tissue hydration and prevent desiccation.

Maintaining a moist and protective wound environment is one of the three therapeutic functions the platform integrates. The therapeutic ambition includes preserving tissue hydration, preventing desiccation and ischaemia, and alleviating pain.

A cross-section through a translucent hydrogel layer lying over wound tissue. Water is held as droplets and small bubbles throughout the open structure of the gel, and a bright line marks the interface where the gel meets the tissue surface beneath it. An illustration, not a photograph.

03Antimicrobial protection

Sustained antimicrobial activity, designed to control the bacterial colonisation and biofilm formation that act as major barriers to healing.

The antimicrobial component plays a critical role in controlling bacterial colonisation and biofilm formation. By restoring a permissive local environment it is intended to enable effective tissue repair, rather than acting on the repair process itself.

A cross-section in three bands, labelled dressing, interface and wound bed. In the top band, red bacteria colonise and form biofilm: bacterial colonisation, a major barrier to healing in chronic wounds. In the middle band, the antimicrobial layer of the dressing glows violet at the interface: antimicrobial protection, sustained activity at the dressing interface. In the bottom band, green cells rest undisturbed: a permissive wound environment in which tissue repair can proceed. A caption within the image reads: Diagram shows an intended mechanism, not a demonstrated clinical outcome.

04Acellular regenerative payload

Selected acellular regenerative payloads are incorporated within the platform for local and controlled delivery at the wound site. They are designed to restore key biological signals disrupted in chronic wounds and support essential repair processes, including cell migration and proliferation, angiogenesis and extracellular matrix formation.

The modular nature of the platform allows the acellular regenerative payload to be adapted to the biological needs of each targeted wound indication and stage.

A three-panel schematic titled Applied, Releasing and Sustained. In each panel the upper image is the bacterial cellulose scaffold, drawn as a translucent porous block, and the lower image is the wound bed. In the first panel the acellular regenerative payload is held within the scaffold: the block glows with payload particles and the wound bed is empty. In the second, payload particles fall from the scaffold into the wound bed: controlled release. In the third, most of the payload is spread across the wound bed and the scaffold is nearly empty: signalling maintained at the wound bed. A caption within the image reads: Illustrative schematic. It does not represent measured release data.

04 · The strategy

Designed around wound biology

Chronic wounds share common features, but their underlying pathophysiology differs.

Komava’s modular approach is designed to combine a common wound care platform with acellular regenerative payloads selected according to the biological needs of each indication and its stages.

A data-driven development strategy

Komava’s development strategy integrates biomaterials science, wound biology and regenerative medicine to identify the most appropriate regenerative approach for each targeted indication.

Product candidates will be progressively optimised through preclinical development based on biological performance, manufacturability and development feasibility.

This modular approach is designed to support the development of differentiated regenerative wound therapies from a common technology platform.

See the pipeline

05 · The principle

From wound management to tissue regeneration

Komava’s scientific approach is built around a simple principle: effective chronic wound therapy requires both control of the wound environment and restoration of the biological processes required for tissue repair.

By integrating an advanced biomaterial scaffold, antimicrobial protection and acellular regenerative payloads within a single platform, Komava aims to develop a new generation of regenerative therapies for difficult-to-heal wounds.

Explore our pipeline Partner with Komava

Let’s advance regenerative wound care.

We welcome discussions with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, scientific collaborators, development organisations and investors interested in advancing the Komava platform.

Contact Komava Scientific collaboration