The journey of PolyMedics Innovations (PMI) is a story of transformation, growth, and continuous innovation. What began as a small spin-off of the German Institute for Textile and Fiber Research (DITF) has developed over the years into a leading solutions provider in wound healing. This evolution is reflected not only in the company’s products but also in its branding – from the blue PMI startup lettering to the butterfly and now the molecule.

The Beginning: A Vision and a Butterfly

When Max Fröhlich joined PMI in 2012, the company was still a classic startup with a team of just seven people, where many processes were still manual. Yet one thing was clear: SUPRATHEL® was an extraordinary product with the potential to revolutionize wound healing. “My goal was to make SUPRATHEL® synonymous with synthetic skin substitutes,” Fröhlich recalls.

The golden butterfly design replaced the blue PMI lettering and marked the first major milestone in the company’s branding. “The butterfly symbolized the gentleness of SUPRATHEL®, akin to a membrane or the delicate touch of a butterfly on the skin,” Fröhlich explains. The color palette, with gold, brown, and cream tones, further emphasized the aesthetic and medical quality of the product. This branding was intentionally distinct from the sterile, minimalist designs typical in the industry – a decision that resonated with both key opinion leaders and the market.

For Fröhlich, the butterfly represented more than a symbol: “It stands for PMI’s transformation – from a small ‘garage startup’ to a recognized medical device manufacturer.”

The Molecule: A Statement of Innovation and Safety

In 2025, PMI is taking a bold step forward with an entirely new corporate design. The butterfly is giving way to the lactic acid molecule – a symbol of synthetic products that stand for safety and reproducibility in modern medicine. “Unlike biological solutions, which often carry risks like infections or rejection, synthetic products like our polymers offer the highest levels of safety and reliability,” Fröhlich emphasizes.

The new design reflects these values: White, as the dominant color, represents purity, cleanliness, and medical precision. Faces of diverse individuals take center stage, highlighting PMI’s mission – to help each patient and society as a whole through innovative wound healing solutions.

Continuity and Progress

The PMI logo remains unchanged, symbolizing the three layers of the skin – epidermis, dermis, and subcutis. “The message of the logo is timeless and underscores our expertise,” says Fröhlich.

The new branding marks the next phase in PMI’s evolution: “We are no longer just the ‘SUPRATHEL® company,’ but a solutions provider for innovative wound care. Our design now perfectly reflects that.”

Unveiling at DAV 2025

At the DAV 2025 conference, starting on January 15, PMI will unveil its complete new branding for the first time. The booth, selected packaging materials, and brochures will greet visitors with the clean white design featuring the molecule. This event is particularly meaningful for PMI, as it was at DAV 2004 where SUPRATHEL® was first officially introduced. Now, 20 years later, PMI is writing a new chapter in its history.

“Mom! Da, da!” Marlene is 15 months old and has been able to walk for a few months. Babbling as she toddles around the motor home, she grabs at everything that comes within reach. Marlene wants to get out fast and go to the baker with her dad. He is already waiting outside the motor home. Mom Julia pours herself a quick mug of tea, puts it down, and turns away. She doesn’t see Marlene reach for the mug and put her finger into it.

An empty mug falls onto the floor. Marlene’s eyes are wide open as the water runs down her body, across her t-shirt and over her legs.

“I had never before heard Marlene cry like that,” Julia says today. About four years have passed since the accident happened. She is sitting with her daughter Marlene, now aged six, at the Schwabing Clinic in Munich. Marlene is due to start school in a few months’ time. She and her mom are here today for a follow-up check by the burns specialist Dr Carsten Krohn.

Marlene, a dainty girl with blond locks and a frilled skirt, asks her mom for a euro to run the model railroad in the waiting area. She puts the coin in the slot, the toy train sets off, and the model world comes to life. “Look mom, that house there is on fire!” she says, pointing to a house that is flashing red and yellow.

“I was scared of losing our daughter”

She wasn’t shocked for a moment, Julia recalls. “I didn’t think of anything, I just grabbed Marlene, ran out the door and headed for the camping site’s fountain.” She ran past her husband, trying to pull Marlene’s clothes off as she ran. Her hands shook and her daughter hit and kicked around in wild panic. “I somehow managed to pull her pants off, but when it came to the bodysuit and its press studs I felt like screaming myself.” At last Marlene was undressed and Julia held her screaming daughter under the fountain’s cold water. Her skin was already flaming red and partly peeling off.

“The bystanders had immediately called for an ambulance,” Julia says, “but it simply didn’t arrive.” When it finally did, the paramedics were out of their depth and called for a second ambulance.  Marlene continued to scream and writhe. The emergency physician gave her a sedative and called the air ambulance. Marlene was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Barcelona. Her parents were not allowed to fly with her.

“My Marlene was scalded, sedated, alone in the ’copter, in a foreign country on her way to a foreign hospital,” Julia recalls. “I was terribly afraid of losing her.”

Diagnose: Second- and Third-Degree Scalding

Parents Robert and Julia had to drive to Barcelona. He could barely concentrate on the traffic. She was constantly on the phone to distract herself. Calling their health insurance, the German automobile association to take them home by plane, a pediatrician in Munich. “She told me about the Center for Severe Burn Injuries in the pediatric surgery department at the Schwabing Clinic in Munich. After that conversation I knew that I would take my daughter home as soon as she was fit to fly.” Julia was also able to contact the emergency doctor in the air ambulance from time to time. Marlene, she learnt, was as well as could be expected under the circumstances.

“I Was Allowed to Fly by Private Jet”

Waiting for her check-up, Marlene, who is now 6, has taken up position on a chair facing the toy railroad. It is out of action because mom Julia found only three euro coins in her purse. That is why Marlene is passing the time by watching Disney’s Snow White. The Evil Queen has just put in an appearance and Marlene prefers to look away and listen to her mother, who has now reached the flight back to Munich that they were able to take after six days in Barcelona. “We flew in a private jet,” Marlene says. Does she remember anything about her accident? Marlene thinks for a moment and shakes her head. “No,” her mom agrees. “Very infrequently she mentions the ordinary hospital ward in Barcelona and the helicopter flight.” Luckily, she has forgotten the tortures of “wet” treatment.

A Summer like No Other

Marlene’s dressings had to be changed one last time under anesthesia because the wound area was so large, but a few days later she was allowed to go home—just 10 days after the accident. “That would have been inconceivable after a transplant,” Julia says.

Even so, the summer of 2019 was not easy for the family. Marlene’s wounds were still open and weeping. Because every piece of material would immediately stick to the wounds, she spent all her time naked, no matter whether at play, at meals or being told a bedtime story.

Initially, Marlene went to the clinic with Robert or Julia every day for her dressings to be changed or her wound healing to be checked. Marlene is curious and observed precisely every time what the doctors were doing. “I was impressed at that time by the strength and patience of Marlene’s parents,” Carsten Krohn recalls. “They did everything to enable the wounds to heal with as few scars as possible. For the overall course of treatment that was at least as important as dispensing with a scalpel and using SUPRATHEL.”

After a superinfection in her right shoulder in August the wounds finally closed in the fall. Marlene had to wear compression clothing 24/7 for nearly two years, followed by a year of physiotherapy.

“A Fantastic Healing Outcome”

“Marlene please,” the ward sister says. Hand in hand the six-year-old and her mother enter Dr Carsten Krohn’s consulting room. He smiles at the girl, Marlene smiles back and looks up to her mother. Does she remember him? Marlene shakes her head. The last check-up was a while ago.

Snow White Instead of Piano Lessons

For a moment all is quiet in Carsten Krohn’s consulting room. Julia speaks quietly, just one word: Thanks. Marlene slips back into her t-shirt.

“I am infinitely relieved,” says Julia once they have left the consulting room. Marlene has made herself comfortable on a chair in the corner, is chewing a carrot and is pleased that she can watch the rest of Snow White. Mom Julia has decided to cancel Marlene’s piano lesson as too much for one afternoon and to let her take a break before they go home.

How “normal” is Marlene’s life? “She still wears her rash vest to protect her from the sunlight more consistently than other children,” Julia replies spontaneously. And otherwise? How do other children react when they see the scarred skin on her chest? Julia stops to think and recalls two events, both of which occurred when swimming. The first was in the summer, a year after the accident. A child told Marlene to put on a t-shirt because he didn’t want to see the scars. “Luckily, Marlene didn’t realize what that meant, but I was devastated,” Julia recalls.

The second occasion was about a year ago. Marlene’s best friend wanted to know what she had done. Marlene told him her story, how she had been scalded, about the helicopter flight and the private jet.

About Uncaring Parents and Other Feelings of Guilt

“Natually, I had feelings of guilt.” Julia looks at the cup of coffee in her hands. “I always thought that kind of thing only happens to uncaring parents.” When Robert and Julia repeatedly asked each other the same questions—Why did you not take Marlene with you right away? Why did you not put the mug of tea on a higher counter?—they decided to seek psychological help. They discussed the accident in individual and joint sessions. It helped them to understand that neither of them could have behaved differently at that moment and “that it was a concatenation of stupid circumstances for which nobody was to blame.” They learnt to accept the accident as a part of their story as a family and a married couple.

Julia has made the acquaintance of many other families that have experienced something similar and tried to cope with it on their own. She doesn’t feel that is a good idea. People often say nothing about it because they are ashamed and make the incident a taboo issue for the entire family. Carsten Krohn shares this view. “Scalding burns into the soul of the whole family,” he says. “Parents always blame themselves quite insanely because they realize, often rightly, that that the accident could have been avoided.”

Other People Have a Nose that’s Too Big

Part of Julia’s open attitude toward the accident is that she has sought access to psychological help for Marlene too. “I want her to be armed when she reaches puberty or when the school goes swimming for the first time.” She must simply not feel flawed in any way. And something else matters to Julia. “Marlene may one day ask me ‘Mom, why weren’t you more careful?’—maybe in anger or maybe as the result of an event. It is important for me that that she then has somebody she can discuss it with.” That is why the Julia and her husband have consulted a child and youth psychologist. But he reckons the family has dealt so openly with the accident that there is currently no occasion to maybe ‘overemphasize’ the subject.

Julia looks over to where her daughter is sitting, looking at her children’s tablet with a smile on her face. The music makes it clear that all is well once more in Snow White’s world. “Come on, Marlene,” Julia says. “Let’s pack our bags and go home.”

20 years is a considerable period of time. If we take the human perspective, it’s the number of years that elapse from childhood to adulthood An incredibly long time from a child’s point of view, which seems to pass much faster later when we become parents ourselves. It’s all about perspective…

A revolution in treating burn injuries

We actually wanted to talk about SUPRATHEL®, our artificial skin substitute. For a medical product, 20 years is a lifetime: the world can change dramatically in two decades.

We – or more precisely SUPRATHEL® – can provide a good example: Carsten Krohn, head physician at the Center for Severely Burned Children at the Munich Schwabing Clinic, explains how burns were treated some 20 years ago: “At the beginning of my career, burns and scalds were still treated openly, meaning that the patients lay with their open wounds in a very warm, humid room. Because burns and dressing changes are extremely painful, patients were sedated. They also had to be isolated to prevent wound infections. It was a traumatic experience for the children, just as it was for their parents!”

Luckily, SUPRATHEL® changed this regimen. Dr. Herbert Haller, for many years a senior physician at the Unfallkrankenhaus Accident Clinic in Linz, Austria, and director of its Burns Center, remembers how quickly this happened: “SUPRATHEL® made up to three dressing changes obsolete overnight.” He particularly points out the pain relief and the fact the artificial skin substitute can stay on the wound: “That was particularly beneficial in the treatment of children, who previously had to be sedated with opiates before changing a dressing.” As the head of the Berlin Center for Severe Burn Injuries, which treated a large number of children with burns in cooperation with the Lindenhof Children’s Hospital, he was well aware of this advantage.

“Because it is good”

A revolution doesn’t need much time. SUPRATHEL®, however, also shows us  something else: that a revolution can be long-lived, even in the field of medical technology.

Dr. Lars Kamolz, University Professor at the University of Graz, was one of the early users of SUPRATHEL®. For nearly 20 years, the Graz University Hospital has relied on SUPRTHEL®  for treating 2a and 2b-degree burns. When asked what convinces him most about SUPRATHEL®, Dr. Kamolz answers: “I find the view over a period of time impressive. If a product is still in use after 20 years that is the greatest accolade. New materials come onto the market; competitors mount an attack. If a product succeeds in staying in the market as a standard, it is simply good.”

Dr. Matthias Rapp from the Center for Severe Burn Injuries at the Marienhospital in Stuttgart chooses a more numbers-based approach: “By using SUPRATHEL® we have been able to reduce by about two thirds the number of operations for second-degree burns.”

Solid base for future products

Despite the continued success for SUPRATHEL®, we are not resting on our laurels. SUPRA SDRM®,  for example, is a product that utilizes and expands upon the knowledge and experience gained in the development of SUPRATHEL®. SUPRA SDRM® has been found effective in treating difficult-to-heal wounds faster than current standard of care and has already brought back quality of life to many people.

Polylactic acid-based products (PLAs) such as SUPRATHEL® and SUPRA SDRM® are sought after for many applications due to their degradability and biocompatibility. PLAs are also suitable as a scaffold material for tissue engineering. Additionally, by shifting the pH of the wound bed from an alkaline to a neutral pH, our PLAs create an environment that is unsuitable for many pathogenic bacteria – allowing the wound healing process to accelerate and bring the patient back to a normal quality of life and productivity.

Our goal at Polymedics Innovations (PMI) is to achieve CO2-neutral production by 2030. This is in line with Germany’s objective of finding an equilibrium between its greenhouse gas emissions and their elimination.

KLIMAfit initiative

Because that’s a big task – for us as a company and for Germany as a country – PMI is excited to receive the support provided by the KLIMAfit initiative. The aim of this programme, funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Environment, is to introduce commercial enterprises to corporate climate protection and to support them in reducing their CO₂ emissions. Work is carried out on a regional basis; one of these regional groups is KLIMAfit Esslingen, in which PMI is participating together with five other companies.

Agenda

In our first meeting early in 2024, we dealt with greenhouse gas balancing. This gave everyone a clear understanding of what we are talking about. Electricity, heat, and renewable energies were the focus in the second session. Our final group meeting focused on compensation measures. Mobility and Scope 3 emissions – pollutants not caused by the production company, but by their suppliers, customers, and other external stakeholders – have caused us to step back and look at our business from a global perspective. Mobility is part of our corporate culture.  “We have an independent sales company in the USA and numerous employees,” explains our CEO Christian Planck. “We also sell our products in around 40 countries around the globe. Air travel is part of everyday working life.”

Despite this, we can still find ways to reduce our carbon footprint. For example, as many appointments as possible are being combined in order to reduce the number of air trips. Longer stays make more sense than several individual arrivals. Even seat spacing has an impact on the traveller’s carbon footprint. In other words, economy class beats business class.

Energy efficiency as an integral part of PMI’s building design

The PMI team is growing. Today we talk to Beate Petschke, who takes care of training courses at PMI that focus on treatment concepts that combine SUPRATHEL® or SUPRA SDRM® with other products from the portfolio.

Beate, how long have you been with PMI?

I have been working at PolyMedics Innovations in the Medical Affairs department since April 1, 2024. I organize and hold training courses and thus support our field service team. This involves the combination of NexoBrid® and/or RECELL® with SUPRATHEL®, SUPRA SDRM® and NovoSorb® BTM as a treatment concept.  If hospital staff, doctors and nurses have technically demanding questions about product combinations and scientific data, then it is my job to answer them comprehensively.

What brought you to PMI?

I was fascinated by the new portfolio that PMI offers in DACH. New to the PMI portfolio are the enzymatic debridement Nexobrid® and the autologous cell suspension RECELL®. NovoSorb® BTM has been distributed by PMI for some time. These products are potent solutions on their own, as well as in combination with PMI’s SUPRATHEL® and SUPRA SDRM ® products. It can be used to reach many different wounds and help with a wide range of indications!

A friend told me about this portfolio expansion. As a result of this message, I sat down at my desk for two days and prepared my application. I have to admit: I had PolyMedics Innovations on my radar for a long time. All that was needed was one more occasion.

How was your application received?

Very well, they were basically looking for someone like me.

“Someone like you” – good keyword: Can you briefly describe your career and main areas of activity?

I am a graduate engineer in chemical technology. My focus was on biotechnology and general chemistry.

At the beginning of my career, I worked on gene mutations that lead to breast and ovarian cancer. At the Charité, my tasks were to set up, organize and coordinate a multi-center project called TOC – Tumor Bank Ovarian Cancer.

At the German Institute for Cell and Tissue Replacement gGmbH, DIZG for short, I was responsible for the production of autologous cells. As the regulations for cell transplants became increasingly strict, audits, training and advice in the clinics became increasingly important. I have trained doctors in the correct application and was also very often present at the operating rooms and developed procedure and application guidelines with the doctors to ensure proper use.

During my time at the DIZG, I dealt with wounds, both burns, traumatological and chronic wounds. I therefore know most of the areas of application of PMI products from my own experience.

You said earlier that PMI had been on your radar for some time. When did you first come into contact with the company or its products?

The first time PMI piqued my interest was quite early in the development of PMI. It must have been in 2007. I could think of SUPRATHEL® as a cover for the cells we were cultivating and using. I also met my field colleagues regularly and at congresses and conferences.

What are your goals for and with PMI?

It is important to me that all patients receive the best possible treatment with modern, up-to-date products, in the right application and combination. PMI has the appropriate products and a lot of experience for this. It is my job to pass this on to the medical staff. To this end, I am working throughout the DACH region.

What does “economy” mean? What does “industry” refer to? These terms are omnipresent in our everyday lives, we use them all the time. But let’s be honest: Could we explain the respective concept in a few sentences? And in such a way that even a primary school child understands?

Second graders visit PolyMedics Innovations

The task definitely needs a bit of preparation – and a clear example. We have decided on an object that every child knows, usually better than the parents would like: the Kinder Joy surprise egg. In spring 2024, we used the toy-filled chocolate egg to explain to around 20 second-graders from the Schafhof primary school in Kirchheim/Teck what we do as a “company”. This is what the primary school pupils who visited us together with their teacher wanted to know.

Using the Kinder Joy example, we have illustrated the path of a product over its entire life cycle. A good product requires research and development. After all, the chocolate should taste delicious and not melt directly in the hands. Someone has to produce the chocolate, choose the toy that goes into the egg, and has to think about whether the child who unwraps it at the end will enjoy it. Someone then has to sell the Kinder Joy to supermarkets, another has to do the advertising.

After this insight, our little visitors were allowed to stroll through the building at PolyMedics Innovations and see what we produce; as we all know, these are not chocolate eggs. At the side of her father Christian Planck, Luise Planck guided her classmates through offices, the clean room, and the production of artificial skin substitute materials.

Crafting project at the end

At the end of their afternoon, the kids were allowed to get active themselves: Together with their teacher and some skilled PMI colleagues, each child made their own lava lamp. And, of course, there was also a surprise egg for everybody to take home.

Education as a social task

Christian Planck, CEO of PolyMedics Innovations, cherished the visit of the primary school pupils as a proud Dad – and way beyond. “We cannot take the education of our children, our young generation, seriously enough. We hope that with our practice-oriented afternoon we were able to convey an understanding of ‘business’, ‘companies’, and thus also of what mom and dad do every day. We would like to thank the Schafhof Elementary School and their staff and ours,  who made her way to us with her class.”

The medical device company PolyMedics Innovations (PMI) is expanding its portfolio to include a one-sided non-adhesive wound dressing. SUPRA NET®, marketed in the U.S. under the name Rylon by BioMed Scienes, is an ideal complement to PolyMedics Innovations’ synthetic skin substitutes. A wound treated with SUPRA SDRM® or SUPRATHEL® finds an external closure with the SUPRA NET® wound dressing, which additionally promotes rapid wound healing.

Valuable properties of SUPRA NET

SUPRA NET® is an atraumatic wound contact dressing. The hypoallergenic silicone-based material adapts to the wound surface and adheres to the surrounding intact skin surface. It provides an optimal environment for rapid wound healing and adapts to a wide range of wounds and skin types. SUPRA NET® does not absorb the liquid itself but must be combined with a secondary absorbent dressing. It is easy to handle and offers valuable properties in the control and handling of the fluid secreted by the wound. For the patient, SUPRA NET® means maximum comfort: it does not stick to the wound bed and minimizes pain during dressing changes.

Comprehensive portfolio for the treatment of traumatic and chronic wounds

“With SUPRA NET®, our portfolio has not simply grown by another product,” says Christian Planck, Managing Director of PolyMedics Innovations. “SUPRA NET® as a wound contact layer also represents another component within existing and future treatment concepts.”

Just recently, PolyMedics Innovations has expanded its portfolio for treating dermal and epidermal wounds: At the end of 2023, PMI has taken over the distribution of NexoBrid® and RECELL® for selected European countries. NexoBrid® is a non-surgical solution for the removal of necrotic tissue from burns. RECELL® from AVITA Medical is an autologous cell suspension that is applied in spray form.

Sensible addition to existing concepts

SUPRA NET® can be combined as a wound dressing and outer layer with SUPRATHEL® and SUPRA SDRM® as well as with NovoSorb® BTM. Polymedics Innovations distributes SUPRA NET® in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and other EU countries. In the USA, SUPRA NET® is mainly marketed by the manufacturer itself, BioMed Sciences, under the name Rylon.

“Experience reports confirm that the various products in our portfolio already complement each other optimally for a wide range of indications,” says PMI CEO Christian Planck. “With SUPRA NET®, we can cover another requirement within wound care.”