Invited Speaker

Avotermin (Juvista^®) - A Novel Drug in a New Therapeutic Field
John Hutchison


Scarring is a natural reaction to tissue injury and an appropriate defensive response. However scars that result in impairment of function or physical disfigurement are undesirable. Renovo is developing agents that reduce the appearance of scars following injury to the skin and other tissues, whilst preserving appropriate wound-healing responses.

Avotermin (Juvista^®) is recombinant human transforming growth factor β3 (TGFβ3), an important cytokine in embryonic development¹. It has also been shown to improve the macroscopic and microscopic appearance of scars following surgical wounding in man². The optimal regimen for dosing avotermin is two intradermal injections, one at the time of surgery and the second 24 hours later. A double-blind, within-patient, placebo-controlled, multi-national, Phase III clinical trial is currently underway to further investigate improvements in scar appearance following avotermin treatment in patients undergoing scar revision surgery for disfiguring scars.

Despite high levels of patient dissatisfaction with surgical scars, there are currently no licensed pharmaceutical products for scar improvement³. In developing avotermin, Renovo has overcome the challenges of being a pioneer in a new therapeutic field, including optimising trial design, developing endpoints and identifying appropriate patient populations. Ongoing dialogue with the Regulators will ensure an appropriate filing strategy for avotermin in the EU.

1. Ferguson MW, and O’Kane S. Scar-free healing; from embryonic mechanisms to adult therapeutic intervention. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2004:359;839-50.
2. Ferguson MW, Duncan J, Bond J, Bush J, Durani P, Taylor L, Chantrey J, Mason T, James G, Laverty H, Occleston N, Sattar A, Ludlow, A and O’Kane S. Prophylactic administration of avotermin for improvement of skin scarring: three double blind placebo-controlled phase I/II studies. Lancet 2009;373;1264-74
3. Young VL and Hutchison J. Insights into patient and clinician concerns about scar appearance: semiquantitative structured surveys. Plast. Reconstr. Surg;124;1-10