Juvista in Scar Revision Surgery of Disfiguring Scars

Each year, over one hundred million people undergo elective or emergency surgery and are left with scarring. Of these, over half a million patients undergo scar revision surgery. These types of scars are usually disfiguring, aesthetically unpleasant and can cause complications such as severe itching, tenderness, pain, depression and disruption of daily activities which can lead to a diminished quality of life. There is a clinical need for treatments that reduce scarring, as current therapies are often ineffective or inadequate.

Results from previous clinical trials show that Juvista is effective in improving scars in young and elderly males and females. Juvista-treated wounds appear to heal with scars that are more similar to the surrounding skin, and are narrower and paler with a faster fading of redness compared to placebo and standard care alone. This study will confirm the effectiveness of Juvista (avotermin) in the improvement of scar appearance when applied to the wound margins of patients following scar revision surgery of disfiguring scars.

The study is a double blind, within patient, placebo controlled, randomised trial in male and female patients. Patients will be asked to attend 10 study visits and will be followed up post-surgery for 12 months.

The potential benefits to the patients taking part in the trial will be that their scar is revised by a plastic surgeon. This procedure should leave subjects with a less noticeable scar. The existing scar will be surgically removed and the resulting wound will be divided into two segments of equal length. In most patients, one segment will receive treatment with Juvista administered by intradermal injection, the other with placebo. A few patients will receive treatment with Juvista to both segments of the wound.