Iceland review - 2014, Qupperneq 53

ICELAND REVIEW 51
Westfjords town of Ísafjörður (population 2,600). Guðmundur’s
roots are in the town; although he points out that he hasn’t lived
there for several years. “it is great to be able to create job oppor-
tunities there for people with university degrees. in small places
around iceland, they are few and far between.”
The first product kerecis put on the market was MariGen
omega3 Wound. it is already available in iceland, the uk and
several Middle eastern markets. Guðmundur explains that
originally, gauze fabric dressing was the only available option
but 20-30 years ago, foam dressing took its place. “We focus
on third generation healing products: biological materials made
from animal tissue. This is an immensely valuable market seg-
ment, with a turnover of almost a billion dollars per year. When
founding the company we began searching for a suitable local
ingredient and found out that no one had thought of using fish
skin for tissue reconstruction—so we proceeded to rapidly cre-
ate prototypes and secure patents in many countries, including
the united States. Actually we have filed patents in 56 countries
around the world.”
FisH skin HAs MAjor AdvAntAges
When kerecis was founded, third generation healing products
were principally made from pig’s intestines and bladders, specially
bred for that use. The company’s ingenious use of fish skin had
many advantages. “First of all, the fish we use is both kosher and
halal compatible, which eliminates cultural and religious con-
straints to usage. This allows us to operate in one of our biggest
target markets, the Middle east. Secondly, our product is the
world’s only wound healing device that contains omega-3, which
is only found in fish. omega-3 has various health benefits and is
known to reduce or eliminate inflammation in damaged tissue.
Thirdly, our product has a much lower risk of disease transfer
than its porcine-derived counterparts. numerous viruses can be
transmitted from pigs to other mammals whereas none can be
transmitted from fish to humans. Moreover, our product is made
from inexpensive material, locally sourced and fresh from the
north Atlantic ocean. We begin processing it immediately after
it has been filleted and de-skinned for food production. Therefore
no antibiotics are required, which is not the case with pigs, which
are swarming with bacteria upon slaughter. in addition, fish skin
is a sturdier material and has been proven to encourage faster
human cell re-growth as well as blood vein creation.”
currently, the company is finishing development and patent
applications of similar products intended for hernia repair, breast
reconstruction and repair of the dura, the thick membrane that is
the outermost of the three layers of the meninges that surround
the brain and spinal cord, areas in which the demand for treat-
ment methods is also increasing.
in addition to the healing strips, kerecis has developed and
marketed a successful skin care range called Maricell. “using
our patented methods, we extract omega-3 oil from the fish skin
and use it in four kinds of creams sold in icelandic pharmacies,
targeted for: very dry skin, eczema, psoriasis, and skin problems
relating to ingrown hair. They have been available for a year now
and have been very well received. Although we do not see our-
selves in the cosmetics market we might consider collaborating
with skin care companies on products using our omega3 tech-
nology. our focus will remain on problem skin.”
iceLAnd A FAvorABLe Business environMent
There has never been a question in Guðmundur’s mind that
kerecis will be a success. “This is the fourth project that the
founding team has worked on together and we all have exten-
sive experience. in all those projects we went through the pro-
cess of creating a new medical device, from idea to marketing.
Therefore, there have been no major surprises or obstacles. it
goes without saying that the more experience you have, the more
likely you are to succeed,” says Guðmundur, adding that iceland
provides a favorable environment for start-up businesses. “We
have enjoyed great collaboration with the national Bioethics
committee, the icelandic Medicines Agency and The national
university Hospital. Furthermore, we have received substantial
funding from the Technology development Fund, for which we
are very grateful. The icelandic tax system is also encouraging:
research and development costs are partially refunded, which
helps a start-up get on its feet. on the other hand, research
grants are relatively low here and there are not that many venture
capitalists. i consider that we have also been quite successful with
investors. We recently finished our third seed round, with fewer
investors getting in than wanted.”
For kerecis, the current focus is on establishing global dis-
tribution of the chronic wound product Maricell omega3
Wound. parallel to that they will continue to develop the hernia
repair, dura-repair and breast reconstruction products. “MariGen
omega3 Wound has already been tested on 200 patients with
great results; in addition to our existing markets in iceland, the
uk and the Middle east, we have acquired marketing licenses
in u.S. and some european countries. The constant worldwide
growth in diabetes and other lifestyle-related illnesses is obvious-
ly a tragic matter. But from a business point of view, it is great to
be in a growing market. if you present a new solution to a prob-
lem, everybody wants to try it. Also, you’re not taking anyone’s
market share. The cake is growing and you get your piece without
fighting other companies for it. Since a gram of our patented fish
skin is worth more than gold, this could be an extremely lucra-
tive enterprise if we play our cards right,” he says. “But the most
important thing: taking one step at a time.” *
innovation