(Fort Worth, TX) --- HEALTHPOINT®, Ltd., and Cook Biotech, Inc. are sending critically needed bioengineered tissue for burn and wound care to Afghanistan to help children injured during the war and its aftermath.

        Enough of the product, OASIS® Wound Matrix, has been shipped to Children's Hospital in Kabul to treat hundreds of young patients.

        The OASIS Wound Matrix acts as a framework to support the remodeling of host tissue. This Purdue University-licensed ECM technology is a tissue-engineered medical device derived from a natural organically intact animal source and developed into strong, sterile, pliable sheets that provide a rich environment or "scaffold" for cell attachment and growth.

        “We wanted to recognize that, though media attention may be focused elsewhere, there are still a lot of children with burns who are in need of help,” said Dwayne Dixon, Director of Marketing for Tissue Management at HEALTHPOINT. “We wanted to do our part to respond to that need and acknowledge all of the efforts being made on behalf of Afghanistan’s children.”

        HEALTHPOINT Ltd., a DFB Pharmaceuticals company and Texas-based market leader in tissue management, surgical, and dermatology products distributes the product. Cook Biotech is the manufacturer.

        Earlier this year, Cook Biotech was contacted by Afghan-American Engineering LLC, a consulting firm working to rebuild the country using international grants as a funding source and Afghan organizations as on-site contractors and/or operators. The firm requested medical equipment such as fluoroscopes, electrocauterizers, surgery equipment, and skin graft supplies.

        "The damage inflicted by two generations of war has been horrific, leaving a legacy of inadequate health care, distressed housing, and woeful economic opportunities," said Lindsey V. Maness Jr., a principal in Afghan-American Engineering LLC of Denver. "This type of grass-roots assistance can help bring peace and reconstruction where it is sorely needed."

        Founded in 1992, HEALTHPOINT is a DFB Pharmaceuticals, Inc. affiliate company with headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. For information visit www.healthpoint.com.

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