MiMedx strives to find ways to make healing and being healthier easier for all. This was accomplished once again with the discovery of EpiFix. Tim Waugh, Account Executive of MiMedx, stated that some patients have had wounds for years and extremely grateful after a handful of applications EpiFix.
“To get a hug from a patient, that makes my day,” Waugh said.
EpiFix comes from a woman’s placenta, which has been used medically for over 100 years. However, medical professionals have since been unsure on how to process and clean the placenta for blood-born pathogens to make it so that the proteins and signals in the placenta are still intact.
MiMedx successfully found a way called the Purion Process in which the human placenta is from scheduled c-sections and no aborted fetus. A placenta consists of two layers and the corion aspect has 80 percent of the growth factors or proteins. In contrast, the amnion has 20 percent. What was discovered in the process was to separate the two layers.
In between the amnion and corion layers is a spongy layer that has some blood-born pathogens. That is cleaned out and then the two layers are placed back together to process them in various shapes and sizes. Another series of tests are conducted on the placenta after procuring it. To date, 1.7 million applications of the product have been applied with zero side affects, Waugh said.
The placenta is then made into a graph that has a five-year shelf life and is stored at room temperature. This product is quite easy for staff to handle and the company has three times more level-one studies than the nearest competitor and is by far the most studied. MiMedx is the only company with over 80 patents that have had the two layers.
Currently, rural medicine struggles due to the nature of the healthcare industry. There are many rural area patients that go untreated and the wish from MiMedx was to have it be known that wounds are treatable. With this in mind, Waugh contacted local Dr. Brian J. Griffeth. Dr. Griffeth had heard about the product but was unaware of how to get in touch with someone to bring it to the area. Waugh remarked that it was fortuitous that he had stopped to visit.
“I am always looking for new ways to accelerate the healing of chronic wounds and diabetic ulcers in a way that is simple and can be done in a clinical or office setting,” Dr. Griffeth said. “When I heard about EpiFix, I was excited because it checked all the boxes and the results were very promising. Epifix doesn’t need to be refrigerated like many other tissue grafts. Epifix also has the most scientific studies, which is important to me.”
Dr. Griffeth stated that in each case that he has used EpiFix thus far, it has improved the healing time significantly. All of his patients that have had the graft applied have been pleased at the shortened amount of weekly visits to the clinic, which can be challenging for the patient.
EpiFix has given the community an excellent option for wound healing in patients that, in the past, were unsuccessful with other treatments. One patient in particular that Dr. Griffeth reflected on had a dramatic improvement on a very large leg wound that they had for nearly two years. The wound had been treated with limited success at another facility. However, four weeks from the time of the first application of the graft, the patient’s wound was more than fifty percent smaller. This patient went on to complete closure in three months time, which Dr. Griffeth credited as a dramatic result.
Dr. Griffeth is the lone doctor in the Carbon and Emery County area that offers EpiFix for patients at this time. A vast majority of insurances cover the product. Once a patient is assisted in filling out paperwork, it is sent back to the company and they approach insurance. Within about 48 hours, most cases know whether or not the patient is going to be covered and by what percentage.
EpiFix is applied weekly and is a painless procedure to heal wounds. Dr. Griffeth may be contacted at (435) 637-6797 and more information on EpiFix may be found by clicking here.