Next-generation soy protein wound dressing technology

Wound dressings play a critical role in healing cutaneous (skin) wounds. Common dressings, made from cotton, linen, or other natural fibers, help protect wounds from contaminants. For patient populations who experience slow-healing or non-healing wounds, multiple dressing changes can be painful—especially for burn victims. One promising solution is a bioactive, biodegradable dressing capable of expediting the healing process.

NeuEsse Inc. (Doylestown, PA and Pittsburgh, PA) is a leader in plant-based skin repair products designed to treat severe burns and dermal wounds. The company’s all-natural skin repair product, OmegaSkin™ (OmegaSkin), is manufactured via electrospinning to create ultra-fine fiber patches based on soybean protein isolate (SPI). These patches can be placed directly over a wound while leaving functioning hair follicles and sweat glands intact. Recently, NeuEsse partnered with researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to include healing additives in its flagship product.

Phil Campbell, research professor of biomedical engineering at CMU, explains that OmegaSkin patches placed over a wound degrade into amino acids, which are then metabolized by cells at the injury site to support dermal repair. His research team is currently investigating ways to enhance the bioactive regenerative capacity of OmegaSkin to expedite healing.

“The current version of the OmegaSkin product augments healing but does not promote healing, which is a key distinction," says Campbell. "Our team is currently exploring the inclusion of additives into the product that will actively promote healing through delivering bioactive molecules directly to the wound site.”

The research team added growth factors and extracellular vesicles (EVs) to the OmegaSkin SPI ink to incorporate everything together during the manufacturing process, resulting in ultra-fine electrospun fibers. In addition to the amino acids provided by the SPI, the additives release a therapeutic payload as the OmegaSkin fibers break down, which may promote wound healing. By using plant-based additives in the SPI mix, the risk for disease transmission from the source material to a living person is eliminated.

“We are purposely researching plant-based materials to reduce potential risks associated with animal-derived components,” says Nader Rezazadeh, doctoral student of chemical engineering at CMU. “Animal-sourced components, such as whey protein or collagen, can carry a risk of residual hormones or immune responses, and their use raises concerns about zoonotic contamination. In contrast, plant-derived components eliminate the risk of disease transfer from animals to humans. SPI is more advantageous compared to an animal-driven component, specifically for tissue engineering and wound healing.”

Rezazadeh highlights biodegradability as another key advantage of the OmegaSkin patches compared to traditional wound dressings.

“Once an OmegaSkin patch degrades, a new layer can be applied directly on top of the old layer," says Rezazadeh. "This minimizes disruption to the wound bed and reduces the risk of infection and re-injury, which is a common issue with conventional dressings.”

Campbell and Rezazadeh shared their excitement for the project’s potential to move toward a complete plant-based therapeutic material that is both economical and sustainable.

“There has been a lot of research over the decades to try to come up with therapies to promote dermal wound healing, especially for compromised patients, such as diabetics,” says Campbell. “You can develop a really good potential product, but if it costs too much, it's not going to make it into practice. The material we’re using in this research, soy protein isolate, is sold by the ton, so there is plenty of it to go around for manufacturing purposes.”

In the next phase of their research, Campbell's team is developing a handheld electrospray device designed to deliver next-generation soy protein wound dressings for a variety of applications.

“The electrospray device we're working on is intended for both civilian and wounded warrior applications,” says Campbell. “For instance, in a first responder scenario, a medic can have the device on their person and administer the material to a wound on-site. You don't have to store pre-made materials and later find an appropriately sized patch to treat a wound in an emergency. You can deploy treatment simply by spraying the wound of any size, in a variety of contexts, using this portable device.”