Calgary health tech company’s gel helps heal Ukrainian soldiers

Canada’s NanoTess Inc. is putting its specialized gel to use in Ukraine to help heal soldiers and civilians, alleviating pressure on the country’s health care system as it looks to increase its adoption at home.

Founded in 2020, the Calgary-based company has mostly focused on helping vulnerable communities in Canada such as seniors and unhoused people with its tissue-regenerating gel, which was approved by Health Canada in 2022. The product, called NanoSALV, is available across the country and the company is building its domestic market.

Since June, NanoTess has also donated $600,000 worth of the product to Ukraine. It’s being delivered by drone to military units in remote areas, aiding wounded soldiers who may have to wait several weeks or months to be evacuated.

NanoSALV contains a mix of copper, titanium dioxide and silica to fight bacteria, reduce inflammation and heal wounds. A paper-thin layer can be applied topically to treat injuries such as frostbite, blisters and severe burns.

North Vector Dynamics, aiming to meet demand for low-cost counterdrone tech, raises $29-million

In past conflicts, such as in Afghanistan or Iraq, the goal has been to get casualties to a medical facility within one hour, said Hailie Uren, who specializes in antimicrobial resistance and infection control research at the Ukrainian Ministry of Health. That timeline has stretched to anywhere from six hours to several months in Ukraine, she said, owing to how contested airspace has become during the country’s fight against Russia’s illegal invasion. Casualties either have to wait for a safe window in the air or be evacuated by land, leaving them vulnerable to malnutrition and infection.

“It’s quite scary to think that the casualty has survived the initial trauma, but it could be the bacteria and through the delayed evacuation that ends up causing an amputation or mortality,” Ms. Uren said.

The gel is useful in emergency situations and also at home to help people recover, freeing up space in hospitals and a system that’s likely already operating at capacity.

The importance of accessible and relatively cheap treatments like this is growing as Canada and its allies consider the readiness of their health care systems for war or other mass casualty events. The recent fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, which killed four people and injured 39 others, is a case in point. Not only could NanoTess’ technology be used to help treat the soldiers suffering from severe burns, but it could also be used to free up capacity pre-emptively by improving the treatment of civilians, said chief executive and co-founder Megan Leslie.

Wainwright fire a wake-up call for country unprepared for mass casualties, experts say

NanoTess’ technology is available in 14,000 pharmacies and used in 2,500 hospitals and health facilities across Canada. It’s cheaper than the average silver bandage, which is used to cover wounds and kill bacteria, with the added benefit of also regenerating tissue. A box of 10 square bandages can cost up to $80. A tube of NanoSALV for roughly the same price contains enough for 20 applications over the same area.

Yet, one of the hardest parts of the job for Ms. Leslie and her co-founder Julian Mulia is educating the public and clinicians about their product, they said.

For example, in Alberta, Ms. Leslie said she knows four of the burn surgeons helping to treat the soldiers injured in the Wainwright fire are aware of their product, but only three have decided to use it in their practice. Therefore, consistent application of the gel becomes a challenge as they rotate between shifts, and its efficacy is reduced.

This is an example of the type of challenge NanoTess faces with adoption of its product in Canada, despite it being readily available.

Six months ago, the gel was put on the Canadian Armed Forces procurement list, meaning any military bases with access to a pharmacy that want the product can get it. But Ms. Leslie said they’re yet to see meaningful uptake.

“It’s a Canadian-made, sovereign technology that’s proven to work on a variety of skincare concerns. How do we help people know that they can even get it? We don’t need them to choose us. We need them to know they can,” she said.

This struggle is something Ms. Uren has observed in Canada and Australia, where she has lived most of her life, when it comes to implementing innovation without a sense of urgency.

As with so many Ukrainian innovations over the past few years, their adoption of NanoSALV has been done out of necessity, Ms. Uren said. But that shouldn’t have to be the case.

“If it can be done during a war, it can certainly be done during a peacetime,” she said.