KUALA LUMPUR - Cell Tissue Technology Sdn Bhd (CTT), Malaysia’s first tissue engineering company, is targeting RM1.5 million in sales by 2016 for its newly launched core products, namely MyDerm and Derm-Autologous.

Chief Executive Officer Dr Khairul Idzwan Baharin said the products, targeted to dermatologists and aesthetic physicians, received overwhelming response from users and had the potential to be marketed internationally.

The products involved human cell and blood of patients which are cultured and such treatment could only be done by skin specialists, surgeons, as well as, certified aesthetic doctors, he told a press conference after the soft launch of the products here today.

The products were launched by Malaysian Technology Corporation Sdn Bhd (MTDC) Chief Executive Officer Datuk Norhalim Yunus in conjunction with the Symbiosis Conference 2015.

Dr Khairul said CTT is marketing the products in collaboration with Dr Richard Ng of Reborn Medical Technology (RMT), the main anchor of distribution in Malaysia, and Dr Choi Seok Min, the man behind the Korean leading stem cell and aesthetic conglomerate with business extending to China and Japan.

“As our partners are tasked with distributing the products, CTT can now focus on manufacturing the high-quality products as well as expanding our pipeline to cover more areas in medicines,” he said.

Dr Khairul said CTT had set up a high-standard lab, equipped with three clean rooms with the capacity to cater for 24 pieces of skin with the size of 100 cm square a month to produce My-Derm products and 72 tubes Derm-Autologous products a month.

He said RM12 million was raised for the project since 2008, of which RM8.5 million from MTDC, while the rest came from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), the technology provider, and shareholders.

CTT employs 22 employees, with medical, bio-medical, bio- medicine and bio- technology backgrounds, who need to undergo a special training in Australia, he added.

Meanwhile, Norhalim said apart from CTT, one of the companies chosen to commercialise innovative research by UKM, MTDC had funded about 90 companies from nine local universities.

Biotechnology and life science-based products take a long time to be commercialised, he said, adding that in the case of CTT, he said research on the products took more than 10 years, while their commercialisation began five years ago.

CTT Chief Technology Officer Prof Datuk Dr Ruszymah Idrus was present.

Source: New Straits Times