Winston-Salem, N.C., August 20, 2015 – KeraNetics LLC announced today that it has been awarded a $1M Department of Defense (DoD) contract under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program for final pre-clinical testing and a safety trial of KeraGenics Muscle for the treatment of volumetric muscle loss (VML). Dr. Luke Burnett, Chief Science Officer for the company and Principal Investigator for the project, said: “the goal of this project is to develop a regenerative solution for large soft tissue defects that occur after blasts from Improvised Explosive Devices. This injury is called volumetric muscle loss, or VML, and there are no good solutions currently available for our Warfighters.”

KeraNetics™ has conducted a significant amount of research in the area of muscle regeneration with funding from DoD Small Business Innovation Research. Dr. Burnett stated: “We are grateful for the generous funding from the Department of Defense that allows us to complete this work. Our preclinical studies show that this product provides the environment necessary to allow the body to regenerate muscle tissue, as opposed to scar tissue, in large muscle defects. We are excited to conduct this study as it will provide the first opportunity to assess this technology’s effects in a human study of muscle defect.”