Crawford Healthcare
University biomaterials experts partnered with healthcare SME Crawford Healthcare to bridge the commercialisation gap and improve wound care.
The KTP has enabled us to translate our research, progressing our technology and understanding the commercial decision-making process has been an invaluable experience.
Sarah Cartmell / Professor of Bioengineering, The University of Manchester
Collaborating with The University of Manchester through KTP not only gave us access to great academic minds, but also access to world-class facilities that would not have been possible as an SME.
Dr Helen Thomason / Director, Research Sciences, Advanced Wound Dressings, KCI An Acelity Company
Within The University of Manchester, a bioengineering revolution is taking place, bringing together medicine and engineering to find answers to the world’s biggest health challenges, such as improving quality of patient care and supporting an ageing global population.
Crawford Healthcare, a wound care SME founded in 1996, established an R&D model based on close collaboration with academia.
Crawford Healthcare accessed the Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme to support their relationship with the University, focusing on cross-disciplinary expertise in life sciences and materials to embed capability on pressure relief dressings, effects of silver in wound healing and electrospinning of materials.
Crawford Healthcare has found KTP to be an excellent mechanism to support strategic capability and product development. Through their KTP interaction with the University they have gained a proprietary silver-based wound dressing, KerraContact Ag, which is now a key product line, received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise and have been acquired by Acelity – the world’s largest wound care company – to expand its portfolio of advanced wound dressings, further strengthening its position as the global leader in advanced wound healing.