A medication developed by scientists in New Zealand and London that could reduce paralysis after spinal injuries and significantly improve the healing of other wounds is close to being tested on humans.
Researchers at the University of Auckland and University College London are excited by the new drug which they have worked on for five years.
Their findings are considered by other scientists to be a major discovery on the world scale, with huge potential applications.
The breakthrough came about through research led by Associate Professor Colin Green, of the department of anatomy with radiology at Auckland Medical School.
Prof Green said his research into developmental biology had led to a surprise revelation into the mechanisms of direct intercellular communication.
"We really discovered this by chance."
Prof Green said his team learned how to stop cell to cell death signals being passed on to healthy cells.
Dying cells kill off living cells by sending signals through channels called gap junctions, in a bystander effect.
The Auckland researchers with the London team, led by Dr David Becker, had now created a product which virtually blocked that communication for short periods of time.
Prof Green said preliminary testing already indicated the drug sped up wound healing in skin lesions, stopped the spread of injuries, and significantly reduced scarring.
The drug could stop a potentially harmful chain of events in the body early after injury.
Controlling the "cascade" of cell reactions had a lasting beneficial effect for wound repair, he said.
Prof Green said the treatment would be of huge benefit to a person who had spinal injuries, such as from a car crash or sporting accident, or those with brain damage from strokes or trauma.
In such accidents or illnesses tissue damage keeps on spreading for 24 to 48 hours after onset, and the medication would stop that process.
Trials had shown that the drug also reduced the inflammatory response of a spinal cord injury which would otherwise cause swelling - putting pressure on the spinal cord - and scarring which inhibited neuronal repair.
Prof Green said the drug could be applied by injecting a gel around the spinal cord or onto the injured part of the brain.
"A person with a spinal injury who had this treatment within one to two hours could reduce the chance of otherwise permanent paralysis."
Prof Green said the drug likewise reduced the inflammatory response in skin wounds to minimise swelling and scarring.
The wound also healed more quickly by speeding up changes in the behaviour of cells that make up the epithelium, or top layer of skin.
That meant it had major applications for the treatment of cuts or burns.
Another important application was cornea repair after laser surgery to correct eye defects such as myopia, he said.
Research into that application with Professor Charles McGhee's group in the Department of Ophthalmology at Auckland University had already shown promising results, Prof Green said.
As with the skin the inflammatory response is reduced and the cornea repairs more predictably and more evenly - reducing the chance of visual defects.
The epithelium heals over more quickly with less discomfort for the patient.
For ophthalmologists this would enable the use of less complex laser treatment techniques and better care for the patient.
Prof Green said the research was originally funded by the New Zealand Marsden fund and was a five-year long joint project with the scientists at University College London.
It showed how basic research funding could translate into something with large potential for New Zealand, he said.
The medicine has been patented and funding secured to take it to preclinical trial stage, with clinical trials on humans expected to begin towards the end of next year.
The market was considered huge with potential application in many areas, and there were few competing products.
Prof Green said the cornea and lens surgery market in the United States alone was currently worth over $US5 ($NZ9.19) billion.
Skin wound care accounted for over US$5 billion each year.
A shell company CodaTherapeutics has been established which is owned by University College London's commercial arm UCLbiomedica and potential overseas investors are being sought.
Prof Green said the product would be cheap to make and could end up on regular bandaids or specialist bandages.
It could be used as an eye drop after laser eye surgery, or as a gel for brain and spinal cord damage.
The researchers are now looking at new areas of application.
The director of biological sciences at Auckland University, Professor Joerg Kistler, was impressed with the results he had seen.
"It is absolutely amazing...this is a world scale discovery. There is no question about it."