Drug could prevent scars

A new healing drug has the potential to prevent unsightly surgery scars, research has shown. The drug, a synthetic cell-signalling agent, is injected under the skin at the site of the wound before and after an incision. Three trials of the treatment were conducted, and panels of volunteers and experts judged that it significantly improved the appearance of scars.

Varying doses of the drug avotermin, an artificial form of transforming growth factor beta3, were injected at the wound site both before and 24 hours after injury. These studies suggest avotermin has potential to provide an accelerated and permanent improvement in scarring. TGFbeta3 has been one of the 'holy grails' of anti-scarring therapy for some time.