The Food and Drug Administration this week cleared a second species of cadaver-eating fly for use in maggot wound therapy, according to an advertisement for Cuprina Holdingsa Singapore-based company that has named its new therapeutic larvae MediFly Maggots.
With the authorization, Cuprina appears to be the only company authorized by the FDA to sell two species of fly larvae, and is full of potential to dominate the global worm market.
The new species is covered luciliaor Australian sheep blowfly. He is a close relative of lucilia sericataor the common green bottle fly, which is the most commonly used species of fly for wound therapy, often called biosurgery or worm debridement therapy (MDT). L. sericata is the only other fly with FDA clearance, which the agency first granted in 2004 to Ronald Sherman, who is now medical and scientific director of Cuprina.
“We now have FDA clearance for both species used in MDT, a position no other company has,” Cuprina CEO David Quek said in a statement. “This anchors our wound care platform in one of the most demanding regulatory markets in the world and gives us a defensible advantage as we continue to build our portfolio.”
The company does not claim any significant therapeutic difference between the two worm treatments. Rather, they are considered to fit different markets. L. sericata is more familiar in Western wound care, says Cuprina, while L. cuprina It may have more recognition in Australia, Africa, Asia and parts of America.
For his part, Sherman, a longtime advocate for wrestling remedies, hailed the authorization as a step forward for MDT overall. “Magot debridement therapy has earned its place in modern wound care, and adding a second FDA-approved species strengthens the entire field,” Sherman said. “covered lucilia “It has a significant international track record, and subjecting it to US FDA clearance gives physicians and their patients more flexibility in how this therapy is administered.”
