AVITA Medical (ASX:AVH) has welcomed a significant step toward broader patient access to its innovative burn treatment technology, with Australia’s Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) recommending that the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) be amended to include the use of its autologous skin cell suspension (ASCS) therapy, prepared with RECELL, for the treatment of severe acute burn wounds in adults and children.
“MSAC’s position is a powerful endorsement of RECELL’s clinical impact and the difference it makes in patients’ lives,” said Katie Bush, Senior Vice President, Scientific and Medical Affairs at AVITA Medical. “It reflects growing confidence in RECELL as a transformative approach in burn care and represents our shared goals of improving outcomes for patients and supporting clinicians with innovative treatment options”.
MSAC concluded that RECELL is as safe and effective as traditional autologous skin grafting, while providing superior outcomes in donor-site sparing and reduced need for additional grafting procedures. The committee also acknowledged evidence showing shorter hospital stays, less pain, and better cosmetic outcomes.
Severe burns typically require surgery to close the wound, often involving skin grafts taken from another part of the body. This process can be painful, prolong recovery, and leave visible scars at the donor site. RECELL works differently: clinicians take a small piece of the patient’s healthy skin to prepare a suspension of skin cells that can be sprayed directly onto the wound.
This approach can reduce the size of donor site wounds, lessen pain and scarring, and shorten hospital stays.
MSAC’s recommendation supports RECELL for use in adults with burns covering at least 20 per cent of total body surface area (TBSA), children with burns covering at least 10 per cent of TBSA, and for whole-of-face burn wound closure.
Inclusion on the MBS would make this innovative treatment more accessible for Australian patients and support clinicians in adopting new technologies in burn care. RECELL is already approved in several international markets, including the US, Europe and Japan, and has been shown to reduce the clinical and economic burden of treating severe burns.
AVITA Medical says it will work with the Australian Government to support the implementation of the MSAC recommendation, enabling hospitals to offer the therapy under Medicare coverage.