Spray-on skin technology provider Avita Medical has won a contract extension aimed at helping a US biomedical research organisation prepare for treating burns from a nuclear explosion.
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority - part of the US health department's disaster response network - is supporting Avita Medical's plans to get its regenerative medicine technology approved and launched in the US.
BARDA will provide Avita Medical with an extra $US7.96 million ($A10.71 million), on top of a contract worth up to $US54 million agreed in September.
Avita's "ReCell" spray-on skin treatment involves using a patient's own cells in a regenerative process, eliminating tissue rejection, speeding up healing, minimising scars and reintroducing pigmentation to the skin.
Avita sells devices to surgeons, enabling them to quickly create the skin for application to the patient.
Avita chief executive Adam Kelliher said the contract extension with BARDA was a significant step toward commercialising the product in the US.
BARDA is paying for clinical trials of the burns technology needed to get FDA approval, the initial procurement of 5,000 devices, an education program for burns surgeons, and the recruitment of more staff for Avita to make the company market-ready.
Mr Kelliher also said on Monday that Avita was making inroads into the huge market for burns treatments in China.
Avita already sells its devices in China, but Mr Kelliher said Avita was currently in talks with a leading burns hospital in Beijing that treats 4,000 patients each year.
By comparison, 8,500 people are hospitalised for burns in Australia each year.
"So you can see that there is effectively half the Australian market in one building," Mr Kelliher said.
Avita Medical shares were 0.3 cents higher at 9.4 cents at 1155 AEST.
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