A Colorado School of Mines professor is betting that an injectable, gel-like material will be a game changer for people suffering from severe, hard-to-heal wounds. The product, called Cleragel, is a transparent wound dressing with properties that help the body heal more quickly.
“You can use it to fill in an open wound bed,” said Melissa Krebs, an associate professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Mines, and the brainchild of Cleragel.
And, Krebs said, it’s unlike anything currently on the market.
“[It’s] inherently anti-inflammatory, repels bacteria and reduces infection all in a single product,” said Krebs, who hopes to have Cleragel available for doctors to use by March.
Last year, the fledgling company, GelSana Therapeutics, which makes Cleragel, was selected as a 2025 MedTech Innovator, one of the largest accelerators for medical technology startups.
Wounds that don’t heal properly are a common problem for patients confined to beds or people who use wheelchairs, also known as bed sores or pressure ulcers. People with diabetes are also vulnerable to chronic wounds, since they have higher levels of inflammation, which can prevent normal healing and can lead to diabetic ulcers.
“Often patients will struggle with these [wounds] for months at a time,” said Krebs.
In some cases, they can result in debilitating infections, limb amputation and if untreated, the wounds can be fatal.
The current treatment involves using several approaches that address one thing at a time, said Krebs. That means a doctor will layer a variety of products to say, add moisture to the wound, reduce inflammation and prevent infection.
Krebs, who has a PhD in biomedical engineering, said she has long been interested in biomaterials that can be used to repair aspects of the human body. As part of that research, she fabricated a new polymer material, which is the basis of Cleragel, that can calm inflammation and prevent infection. And, while Krebs was always keen on developing new medical treatments, she said hadn’t envisioned founding a company until this product changed her thinking.
“So much so that we decided that it would make a lot of sense to spin a company out of the Colorado School of Mines to commercialize the materials and actually bring them to the clinic to help patients,” she said.
Krebs said the price for Cleragel will be just above the cost of traditional wound dressings but notes it has vastly improved healing properties.
She added that GelSana has the attention of the Department of Defense for possible use on burns and battlefield wounds, since Cleragel will maintain its healing properties over long periods of time, whether frozen or exposed to high temperatures. Krebs said the material also has potential for other uses, including as a dressing over stitches to help wounds heal faster and reduce scarring.
