The FDA just approved a gel that can stop bleeding from gunshot wounds in seconds

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved the first gel-based treatment for controlling moderate to severe bleeding. The new product could potentially prevent deaths from blood loss as a result of gunshot and stab wounds.

Cresilon’s Traumagel is a first-of-its-kind plant-based gel that was designed to “stop and control life-threatening bleeding in a matter of seconds” and address the needs of militaries, government health agencies, and emergency medical services, the company said in a press release.

“The ability to rapidly stop bleeding at the point of care and halt a life-threatening hemorrhage can be the difference between life and death for people with traumatic injuries,” said Cresilon co-founder and CEO Joe Landolina in a statement.

Traumagel is expected to launch in late 2024 and will come in easy-to-use, 30-ml pre-filled syringes. Cresilon currently operates from a 33,000-square-foot biomanufacturing facility in Brooklyn.

Last year, the FDA approved a 5-ml version of the product to be used on minor cuts. The company’s gel has also been used by veterinarians.

Cresilon said that current methods to treat severe bleeding, like gauze bandages, are not efficient since they require preparation and a lengthy application time.

Conversely, Traumagel is able to produce blood clots without the need to apply pressure on a wound.

“This (Traumagel) is for stab wounds, gunshot wounds, motor vehicle accidents — really anywhere where this product will stand between a patient and death,” Landolina, who invented the gel when he was 17, told Reuters.

About 40% of trauma-related deaths around the world are due to bleeding, according to the American Red Cross.