Chennai, July 15: Here's some good news for diabetic patients tired of tyring out various medicines to cure wounds or diabetic foot ulcers. The Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech International Ltd has developed a specialised therapeutic drug for diabetic foot ulcers, burns and skin grafts.

Christened REGEN-D 150 (for diabetic foot ulcers) and REGEN-D 60 (for burns and skin grafts), the products are developed from Recombinant Human Epidermal Growth Factor (rhEGF) molecule. "This is for the first time in the country that such a product is being developed from rhEGF molecule," claimed Krishna M Ella, CMD, Bharat Biotech, while announcing the launch of the products here on Friday.

According to him, REGEN-D is all set to revolutionise the treatment for diabetic foot ulcers, I & II degree burns and donor site skin grafts, taking into consideration the poor healing facilities available in India and other developing countries. "The WHO's latest estimate for diabetic patients worldwide in 2000 is 177 million. In India alone, patients undergo 40,000 amputations every year due to diabetic foot ulcers," Ella pointed out.

He claimed that REGEN-D reduces wound healing time considerably and assures 90 percent result. "One of the main advantages is that REGEN-D heals with minimal scars," said V Krishna Mohan, president of the company.

The Rs 40 crore Bharat Biotech, which already had developed Hepatis B and Typhoid vaccines, has found an export market also for its products.

"We are already exporting vaccines to African, Latin American and other Asian countries. REGEN-D is expected to take our export turnover contribution from the present 10 percent (of the total turnover) to 20 percent in the next two years," said Suchitra Ella, one of the founder directors of the company. She added that the company is targeting Rs 200 crore turnover by 2008.

Bharat Biotech, which had a tie-up with a number of institutions in India (including Institute of Genomics and Integrated Biology, New Delhi) and abroad, is also in the process of developing vaccines for Rabies, Hepatitis A, Rotavirus etc.