A fish-skin graft technology, traditionally used in animal wound care, is now gaining mainstream acceptance for treating diabetic foot ulcers, offering new hope for faster healing and reduced amputations.
A treatment once associated with wound care for animals and the occasional novelty is moving into mainstream medicine for one of diabetes’s most persistent complications. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a fish-skin graft is being used to help heal diabetic foot ulcers, a problem that can lead to infection, amputation and prolonged disability when standard care fails. The technology has gained attention because it offers another option for patients who cannot easily access hyperbaric oxygen therapy or whose wounds do not respond to conventional dressings.
The product comes from Kerecis, which processes skin from North Atlantic cod by stripping out the fish cells, sterilising the material and freeze-drying it while preserving the collagen structure. Doctors then rehydrate the sheet and apply it to a wound, where it acts as a temporary framework that the body’s own cells and blood vessels can grow into before the material is gradually absorbed. Kerecis’s MariGen product received US Food and Drug Administration clearance in 2013 for chronic wounds, including diabetic and vascular ulcers, and the company says the treatment is designed to support tissue regeneration.
Evidence for the approach has also strengthened. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette cited a randomised trial published in NEJM Evidence involving 255 people with deep diabetic foot ulcers, some reaching bone or tendon. At 16 weeks, 44% of patients treated with the intact fish-skin graft had healed, compared with 26% receiving standard wound care. By 24 weeks, the rates were 55% and 38% respectively. The study was funded in part by Kerecis, and the technology is not suitable for people with fish allergies.
Access is widening as insurers and public programmes expand coverage. Kerecis said in June that more than 40 million additional insured lives had been added through policy changes at private insurers and state Medicaid programmes. The company has also highlighted Medicare billing support for the product, including a code first announced in 2014, and said a revised 2026 payment system separately reimburses qualifying skin substitutes. In late 2025, Kerecis said Medicare withdrew proposed local coverage changes that might have tightened payment rules, helping preserve existing reimbursement pathways.
The broader appeal is easy to see in the setting of diabetic wound care, where patients often need repeated visits and slow, uncertain healing. A fish-based graft may sound unconventional, but the underlying logic is straightforward: provide a scaffold the body can use to repair itself. For some patients, that could mean the difference between a wound that lingers for months and one that finally closes.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
