Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) is seeking an acellular dermal matrix solution for diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) wound care. The proposed solution should help reduce the amount of time and resources required for treating DFUs, while improving the efficacy and successful healing rate of DFU treatments.

NSHA is posting this Call for Innovation to seek out qualified Canadian companies who can meet the desired outcomes. NSHA and CAN Health reserves the right to not move forward with this project at its full discretion and in particular if there are no qualified Canadian companies that can reasonably meet the desired outcomes.

To qualify for a CAN Health project, the company must have its headquarter in Canada and/or the majority (>50%) of the company owned by Canadians and/or significant economic impact to Canada including a high Canadian job creation potential, >70% of contract value to Canada (for distributors of a non-Canadian solution), independent autonomy over business operations and product development (for subsidiaries, affiliates or distributors), current presence (office(s) and client(s)) and can benefit from the CAN Health Network. Priority will be given to companies that meet all eligibility criteria.

For more information on the Call for Innovation process and the commercialization projects funded by CAN Health Network, please refer to the FAQ page on the CAN Health Network website: https://canhealthnetwork.ca/faq/

This opportunity is closed.
Problem Statement and Objective(s)

Problem Statement: NSHA is seeking an acellular dermal matrix solution that will reduce the time patients suffer from an unhealed DFU, reduce mortality rates due to DFUs, improve quality of life for patients, and reduce the average cost per patient while treating DFUs.

Objectives: NSHA expects to reduce the cost per patient while treating DFUs while increasing the success rate of healing DFUs.

Desired outcomes and considerations

Essential (mandatory) outcomes
The proposed solution must:

  1. Successfully heal patients with DFUs that have failed to heal with current treatments:
    1. Heal DFUs with a >80% success rate in an average of 4 weeks
    2. Reduce the average cost per patient by >50%
    3. Increase proportion with complete healing (complete healing is defined as 100% epithelialization without drainage)
    4. Reduce number of applications required for healing
    5. Mean and median reduction in wound area
    6. Reduce time needed for each visit
  2. Improvement in patient lifestyle and treatment plan:
    1. Quicker patient healing time
    2. Ease of use with solution
    3. Reduce the amount of follow-up requirements

The maximum duration for a project resulting from this Challenge is: 13 months

Background and context

By 2030, 15% of the world’s population will be diabetic, with 15-25% of diabetics experiencing chronic foot ulcers, or diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). The current standard of care for treating DFUs has only a 50% chance of healing the wound, and can take up to 12 weeks of treatment. 80% of lower-extremity amputations are diabetes-related, and the relative 5-year mortality rate after limb amputation is 74%. This creates a lot of cost and resource challenges for health authorities and poses a potential opportunity to innovate in wound care for DFUs.

Acellular dermal matrix solutions for wound care have potential benefits for DFU treatment and more complex wounds in regards to the reduction of time and resources required for healing, as well as a higher efficacy for healing wounds in comparison to the current standard of care.

This opportunity is closed.