A team of students and a professor at the American University in Cairo teamed up to create a technology based on bio products that could help heal wounds in a natural way. Selected as one of the candidates for the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Competition, Professor Hassan Azzazy talked to BarakaBits to explain what this promising startup is about.
How did the team come together? Tell me a little bit about the entrepreneurs behind it.
The “NanoEbers” team started when PhD student in in the Nanotechnology program Wesam Sarhan and her doctoral supervisor Professor Hassan Azzazy, founder of Novel Diagnostics & Therapeutics research group at AUC, worked on developing nanofiber-based wound dressings. Later on, her colleague at AUC Walaa Wahbi joined, as well as Dr. Ayman Ismail, the head of Venture Lab at the same university and graduate Mohamed Ellithy.
How do you assess the project’s growth so far?
Within three years, we have managed to turn the research idea into a prototype with one patent application. We are now in the process of developing specialized wound dressings containing effective antibacterials and wound healing products, as well as optimizing large scale production of the nanofiber wound dressings. We have also identified several natural as well as synthetic products to target specialized wounds such as burns and diabetic foot. On the business side, we are seeking more funding and appropriate partnerships to accelerate development and marketing efforts.
What’s its biggest achievement?
Developing the prototype of the NanoEbers wound dressing, the first advanced dressing in the market which is made from biodegradable nanofibers containing very high honey concentration allowing it to achieve both enhanced wound healing and antimicrobial activity at a lower cost compared to comparable products.
And the biggest challenge?
The need to purchase (or construct) a large scale electrospinner which is needed to upscale the production of the nanofiber wound dressings.
For more information: Find out about other competing startups at the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Competition‘s website.
