Iceland review - 2014, Side 50

48 ICELAND REVIEW
healinG
Waters
“one gram of this is worth more than a gram of gold,” says
Guðmundur Fertram Sigurjónsson, co-founder and ceo of
kerecis. Between his fingers he is holding a small, tough and col-
orless strip of fish skin. “A completely sustainable material, this is
a byproduct of the food industry, readily available to us fresh from
the sea, five minutes away from our laboratories.”
Founded in 2009, this icelandic development and manufactur-
ing company believes it can attain global success on the hospital
market with its patented FdA-approved range of medical prod-
ucts which accelerate wound healing and tissue reconstruction.
The technology, called MariGen omega3, is based on intact fish
skin sheets that have had all cells and antigenic materials removed.
“Fish skin is largely made from the same material as human skin,
with the addition of omega3 fatty acids,” explains Guðmundur.
“When inserted into, or placed onto, damaged human tissue, it
recruits the body’s own cells, is incorporated into the wound and
ultimately converted into functional, living tissue.”
kerecis was founded in 2009 by four specialists in chronic
Utilizing codfish harvested from the North Atlantic Ocean in
a groundbreaking manner, innovative company Kerecis is an
emerging leader in the global medical industry.
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By ÁSta andréSdóttir PHoToS By PÁll StEfÁnSSon