While people in offices argue over how to classify VitroGro,...

While people in offices argue over how to classify VitroGro, hard to heal wounds are causing real people to:
• have limbs amputated
• live with chronic pain
• be embarrassed by the odour emitted by their wound
• be at constant risk of infection
• become socially isolated and depressed
• have a reduced quality of life

This is despite the fact that:
• in trials carried out by leading wound care expert Professor Keith Harding, we were advised that VitroGro was able to restart or accelerate healing of chronic wounds that had not responded to expert care
• VitroGro stock is sitting packaged in a warehouse ready to be delivered at this very moment
• VitroGro is applied topically for only a few weeks and so likely has a high safety profile
• many people with chronic wounds are elderly and would jump at the chance to try VitroGro in the hope that it could improve their quality of life and help them enjoy their remaining years
• we have been advised that expert heath economic modelling shows that VitroGro would provide strong cost benefits to the community

This really should be a win-win situation for both sufferers of chronic wounds and shareholders of Tissue Therapies. Sadly, at this point in time, everyone is a loser.

Although I have no doubt that most of the people working at the various regulatory authorities have good intentions, this is clearly a case of bureaucracy gone mad. It seems the bureaucrats have been so focused on the minute details and wording of certain regulations that they can’t see the forest for the trees. The ‘forest’ in this case is human suffering.

I do not dispute the fact that regulatory authorities have prevented some bad drugs from coming to market. However, on the flip side, they have also delayed many good therapeutics from coming to market, often by many years. VitroGro seems to be such a case.

It is understandable that bureaucrats will always err on the side of caution when it comes to approving a new drug. Should the new drug prove to be harmful, the bureaucrats that approved the drug and the agency they work for would both be held accountable.

However, who stands up for those that have suffered or died prematurely as a result of regulatory delays in getting a good drug to market? These people have no voice and in such a case, the regulatory authorities are never held accountable.

I believe shareholders can and should draw attention to the absurd situation sufferers of chronic wounds now find themselves in.

I am hoping someone here (or someone they know) has the skill to implement the following:
• Set up a website called “The Amputation Clock”
• This website would be based on “debt clock” websites (see, for example, http://www.nationaldebtclocks.org/)
• The website would basically consist of a real-time counter that counts the number of amputations that have been carried out as a result of chronic wounds
• The website could be divided by country (as in the debt clock in the link above)
• Each country’s counter would update every few hours (or another appropriate time period) and would be based on accurate data as to the number of amputations that occur every year in that country due to chronic wounds
• The website should include information about VitroGro including links to clinical trial data, websites, include pictures of the stock sitting in the warehouse etc
• In my view, the amputation clock should be set up so that it starts counting amputations from the day VitroGro was first submitted for regulatory approval
• Once set up, links to the website should be forwarded to online diabetes forums, chronic wound forums, newspapers, twitter, facebook, politicians etc. This needs to go viral!

I don’t believe this would be difficult or expensive to do, I just don’t have the skills to implement it. I’m hoping someone here can put their hand up and just do it! You have my full permission to run with my idea.

The above is all, of course, just my opinion but I will say never discount the ability of people power to change the world for the better! It seems that people involved with Tissue Therapies have been too afraid to upset the apple cart for too long. I believe the time for unilateral shareholder action is now!

I now bid you adieu.