THEREOF

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to the field of human placental tissues, and more particularly, to growth factor rich sterile human placental allografts and methods of making thereof in which the allografts have various dental, cosmetic, and wound healing applications.

BACKGROUND

The use of human placenta for medical purposes dates back to 1593, when Li Shizhen wrote about the use of “zi he chi" (human placenta) in the Compendium of Materia Medica. However, it wasn’t until 1910 that the advantages of placental membranes for skin transplantation were formally documented in the medical literature.

Use of placental membranes for clinical purposes continues to date. To date, placental membrane processing has primarily focused on the preservation of cells within a tissue or removal of all non-solid components for the purpose of delivering stem cells and/or providing a substrate for regenerative growth. These placental membrane processing techniques often result in loss of endogenous growth factors found within the human placental tissue and/or result in endogenous degradative processes that further result in a loss of endogenous growth factors found in the human placental tissue thereby resulting in reduced end use efficacy (e.g., reduced wound healing) for any allografts obtain from these processes.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the invention to provide safe, biocompatible, growth factor-rich sterile human placental allografts grafts. The methods disclosed herein achieve these biocompatible, growth factor-rich sterile human placental allografts grafts while maintaining a growth factor profile that mimics the human placenta In vivo. These methods clean and prepare the human placental tissues in a gentle and effective manner, while minimizing the risk of comprising biologic tissue and/or growth factors for subsequent allograft implantation/transplantation. In particular, the disclosed methods utilize various mild cleaning, preservation, and mild sterilization techniques using cold physiological buffers, gentle handling, dehydration at ambient or physiological temperatures, and mild sterilization conditions of the human placental allografts disclosed herein to obtain sterile human placental allografts that maintain a growth factor profile that mimics the human placenta in vivo. These sterile human placental allografts have various different clinical and cosmetic purposes and may achieve, for example, improved wound healing when compared with conventional human placental allografts because of its growth factor profile. Furthermore, the allografts disclosed herein meet or exceed all requirements set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB).

In certain aspects, disclosed herein is a method of preparing a sterile human placental allograft comprising (a) providing a human placental tissue from a donor within 24 hours to 72 hours post-childbirth; (b) removing any visible blood, blood clots, and/or blood components from the human placental tissue without scraping or scrubbing the human placental tissue to preserve structural integrity of the human placental tissue; (c) washing the human placental tissue in an isotonic solution while maintaining the structural integrity of the human placental tissue; (d) dehydrating the human placental tissue thereby forming the dehydrated human placental tissue; (e) resizing the dehydrated human placental tissue into dehydrated human placental tissue portions having predetermined sizes; and (f) sterilizing the dehydrated human placental tissue portions of step (e) thereby forming the sterile human placental allograft.

In certain aspects, either before step (a) or during step (a) disinfecting the human placental tissue with at least one of a bactericidal composition, a tuberculocidal composition, a fungicidal composition, a virucidal composition, or any combination thereof. In certain aspects, the at least one of a bactericidal composition, tuberculocidal composition, fungicidal composition, virucidal composition, or any combination thereof includes an alcohol solution and more preferably an isopropyl alcohol at a concentration of 70% to 100%. In preferred embodiments the alcohol concentration ranges from 70% to 75%, and in most preferred embodiments, the alcohol is 70% isopropyl alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol is preferred over other commercially available lab and/or pharmaceutical grade alcohols, such as ethanol, because isopropyl alcohol advantageously disinfects and cleans the human placental tissue without damaging (e.g., unduly dehydrating, initiating apoptotic processes, and/or necrotic processes) the placental tissue. In certain aspects, predetermined volumes of the at least of a bactericidal composition, a tuberculocidal composition, a fungicidal composition, a virucidal composition, or any combination thereof may be used in which the predetermined volumes range from 250 ml to 1000 ml and more preferably 400 mL to 600 mL.

In certain aspects, step (b) comprises manual hematopoietic reduction by manually removing any visible blood, blood clots, blood components, and/or other debris from the human placental tissue.

In certain aspects, the isotonic solution comprises at least one of 1x phosphate buffered saline, isotonic saline, lactated ringers, Plasma-Lyte® (NaCI 5.26 g/L, KCI 0.37 g/L, Magnesium Chloride hexahydrate 0.30 g/L, Sodium Acetate trihydrate 3.68 g/L, Sodium Gluconate 5.02 g/L at pH 7.4), Normosol® (NaCI 5.26 g/L, KCI 0.37 g/L, Magnesium Chloride 0.30 g/L, Sodium Acetate anhydrous 2.22 g/L, Sodium Gluconate 5.02 g/L at pH 7.4), or any combination thereof.

In certain aspects, the method further comprises repeating step (c) for a predetermined number of times.

In certain aspects, each wash step (c) is at a temperature ranging from 4 to 15 oC for a time-period of from 5 minutes to 15 minutes.

In certain aspects, the dehydrating step (d) is at a temperature ranging from 20 to 40 oC for a time-period of from 60 minutes to 4.5 hours thereby resulting in a dehydrated (or dried) human placental tissue having approximately 10 to 15% residual water content. In certain preferred aspects, the dehydrating step (d) is at a temperature ranging from 30 to 40 a time-period of from 60 minutes to 4.5 hours thereby resulting in a dehydrated (or dried) human placental tissue having approximately 10 to 15% residual water content.

In certain aspects, the predetermined sizes of the human placental tissue portions range from 1 cm x 1 cm to 8 cm x 8 cm for square and rectangular shaped human placental tissue portions. In further aspects, the square and rectangular shaped human placental tissue portions may include 2 cm x 2cm, 2 cm x 3 cm, 2 cm x 4 cm, 4 cm x 4 cm, 4 cm x 6 cm, 4 cm x 8 cm, 6 cm x 6 cm, 8 cm x 8 cm in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. In certain aspects, the predetermined sizes may include round and/or circular shape human placental tissue portions having diameters ranging from 0.5 mm to 50 mm in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges failing therein, and in further aspects, the sizes may include round and/or circular shape human placental tissue portions having diameters of 2 mm, 4 mm, 6 mm, 8mm, 10 mm, 12 mm, 14 mm, 16 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm, 40 mm, or 50 mm.

In certain aspects, the placental tissue portions comprise a predetermined shape and is configured for dental, cosmetic, and/or wound healing applications.

In certain aspects, the sterilizing step (f) comprises sterilizing with e-beam irradiation.

In certain aspects, step (f) comprises e-beam irradiating the dehydrated human placental tissue portions to a sterility assurance level (SAL) of 10-6, as determined by dose mapping by the E-beam vendor, to form the sterile human placental allograft.

In certain aspects, the human placental tissue comprises intact placental tissue. In this aspect, the dehydrated human placental tissue of step (d) and the dehydrated human placental tissue portions having predetermined sizes of step (e) are intact in cross-section in which a human amnion layer and a human chorion layer have an intact human intermediate spongy layer positioned there between connecting the human amnion layer to the human chorion layer. In this aspect, sterile human placental allografts of step (f) are intact in cross-section in which the human amnion layer and the human chorion layer have an intact human intermediate spongy layer positioned there between connecting the human amnion layer to the human chorion layer.

In certain aspects, the sterile human placental allograft produced by, for example, the above method is configured for dental, cosmetic, and/or wound healing applications.

Also disclosed herein are sterile human placental allografts. In certain aspects, these sterile human placental allografts are produced by the methods disclosed herein. The sterile human placental allografts disclosed herein are preferably non-immunogenic - resulting in little or no immune response post-implantation/transplantation into a human recipient.

In certain aspects, the sterile human placental allograft comprises at least two of the following: (a) interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) ranging from 200 to 7800 pg/cm2; (b) hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) ranging from 500 to 8500 pg/cm2; (c) vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1 ) ranging from 800 to 2750 pg/cm2; (d) hyaluronic acid (HA) ranging from 5.0 x 106 to 1.5 x 108 pg/cm2; (e) platelet derived growth factor subunit B homodimer (PDGF-BB) ranging from 150 to 400 pg/cm2; (f) glycosaminoglycans (GAGs); (g) collagen, and (h) exosomes in which any endpoints within any of the above-mentioned ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. In this aspect, the sterile human placental allograft is intact in cross-section in which the human amnion layer and the human chorion layer have an intact human intermediate spongy layer positioned there between connecting the human amnion layer to the human chorion layer.

In certain aspects, the sterile human placental allograft is configured for dental, cosmetic, and/or wound healing applications.

In certain aspects, the sterile human placental allograft comprises a predetermined size of 1 cm x 1 cm to 8 cm x 8 cm for square and rectangular shaped sterile human placental allografts. In further aspects, the square and rectangular shaped sterile human placental allografts may include 2 cm x 2cm, 2 cm x 3 cm, 2 cm x 4 cm, 4 cm x 4 cm, 4 cm x 6 cm, 4 cm x 8 cm, 6 cm x 6 cm, 8 cm x 8 cm in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. In certain aspects, the predetermined sizes may include round and/or circular shaped sterile human placental allografts having diameters ranging from 0.5 mm to 50 mm in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein, and in further aspects, the sizes may include round and/or circular shaped sterile human placental tissue portions having diameters of 2 mm, 4 mm, 6 mm, 8mm, 10 mm, 12 mm, 14 mm, 16 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm, 40 mm, or 50 mm. In certain aspects, the sterile human placental allograft comprises a circular shape, a square shape, a rectangular shape, an ovoid shape, a triangular shape, or any combination thereof.

In certain aspects, an upper and/or lower surface of the sterile human placental allograft is planar.

In certain aspects, the upper and lower surfaces of the sterile human placental allograft are planar.

In certain aspects, the sterile human placental allograft consists essentially of the human amnion membrane, and in further aspects, the sterile human placental allograft consists of the human amnion membrane. In each of these aspects, the sterile human placental allograft (consisting essentially of and/or consisting of the amnion membrane) includes at least two of the following: (a) interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 ra) ranging from 150 to 1800 pg/cm2; (b) hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) ranging from 75 to 400 pg/cm2; (c) vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1 ) ranging from 50 to 250 pg/cm2; (d) hyaluronic acid (HA) ranging from 1.1 x 106 to 2.0 x 107 pg/cm2; (e) platelet derived growth factor subunit B homodimer (PDGF-BB) ranging from 200 to 500 pg/cm2; (f) glycosaminoglycans (GAGs); (g) collagen, and (h) exosomes in which any endpoints within any of the above-mentioned ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. In this aspect, the sterile human placental allograft is configured for dental, cosmetic, and/or wound healing applications. In this aspect, the sterile human placental allograft comprises a predetermined size of ranging from 1 cm x 1 cm to 8 cm x 8 cm for rectangular and/or square shaped human piacental allografts in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein and ranging from 2mm diameter to 50 mm diameter for circular and/or round sterile human placental allografts in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. In this aspect, the sterile human piacental allograft comprises a circular shape, a square shape, a rectangular shape, an ovoid shape, a triangular shape, or any combination thereof. In this aspect, an upper and/or lower surface of the sterile human placental allograft is planar. In this aspect, the upper and lower surfaces of the sterile human placental allograft are planar. Also disclosed herein are kits comprising the sterile human placental allograft packaged in a steriie container. In this aspect, the sterile human placental allograft is produced by the methods disclosed herein.

Embodiments of the invention can include one or more or any combination of the above features and configurations.

Additional features, aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the invention as described herein. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description present various embodiments of the invention, and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention are better understood when the following detailed description of the invention is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically depicts the steps in the method of making the sterilized human placental allografts disclosed herein;

FIGs. 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, and 2F each show microscopic images depicting the histology of the dehydrated amnion stroma (i.e., the sterile human placental allograft according to one embodiment) obtained from the methods disclosed herein; FIG. 2A shows hematoxylin and eosin stain for structure; FIG. 2B shows alcian biue staining for glycosaminoglycans; FIG. 2C shows Van Gieson staining for elastin and collagen; FIG. 2D shows staining for collagen I in brown; FIG. 2E shows staining for collagen III in brown; and FIG. 2F shows staining for fibronectin in brown;

FIG. 3A, 3B, 30, 3D, 3E, and 3F each shown microscopic images depicting the histology of the dehydrated amnion/chorion stroma (i.e., the sterile human placental allograft according to another embodiment) obtained from the methods disclosed herein; FIG. 3A shows hematoxylin and eosin stain for structure; FIG. 3B shows alcian blue staining for glycosaminoglycans; FIG. 30 shows Van Gieson staining for elastin and collagen; FIG. 3D shows staining for collagen I in brown; FIG. 3E shows staining for collagen III in brown; and FIG. 3F shows staining for fibronectin in brown;

FIG. 4A are graphs depicting the growth factor elution profile for hyaluronic acid, interleukin- 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 ra), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet derived growth factor subunit B homodimer (PDGF-BB), and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1 ) in the sterile human placental allograft consisting essentially of dehydrated, sterilized amnion membranes, and FIG. 4B are graphs depicting the operable and preferred ranges for the growth factor profile for hyaluronic acid, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 ra), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet derived growth factor subunit B homodimer (PDGF-BB), and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1 ) in the sterile human placental allograft consisting essentially of dehydrated, sterilized amnion membranes;

FIG 4A Anti-inflammatory and regenerative factors delivered from dehydrated, sterilized amnion membranes, the average concentration is shown +/- s.d. Elution of HA, IL-1ra, HGF, PDGF-BB and VEGFR1 from BioRetain processed amnion membranes. HA=hyaluronic acid, IL-1 ra= interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, HGF=hepatocyte growth factor, PDGF-BB=platelet-derived growth factor subunit B homodimer, VEGFR1 =vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1. Results are presented as average pg eluted from the membrane per cm2 of product + standard error of the mean. n=5. FIG 4B Anti-inflammatory and regenerative factors delivered from dehydrated, sterilized amnion membranes. Elution of HA, IL-1 ra, HGF, PDGF-BB and VEGFR1 from BioRetain processed amnion membranes. HA=hyaluronic acid, IL-1ra= interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, HGF=hepatocyte growth factor, PDGF-BB=platelet-derived growth factor subunit B homodimer, VEGFR1=vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1. Results are presented as average pg eluted from the membrane per cm2 of product ± standard error of the mean. n=5.

FIG. 5A are graphs depicting the growth factor elution profile for hyaluronic acid, interleukin- 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 ra), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet derived growth factor subunit B homodimer (PDGF-BB), and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1 ) in the sterile human placental allograft having dehydrated, sterilized amnion/chorion membranes having an intact intermediate spongy layer in cross-section, and FIG, 5B are graphs depicting the operable ranges and preferable ranges for growth factor profile for hyaluronic acid, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet derived growth factor subunit B homodimer (PDGF-BB), and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1 ) in the sterile human placental allograft having dehydrated, sterilized amnion/chorion membranes;

FIG 5A. Anti-inflammatory and regenerative factors delivered from dehydrated, sterilized amnion/chorion membranes, the average concentration is shown +/- s.d.. Elution of HA, IL-1ra, HGF, PDGF-BB and VEGFR1 from BioRetain processed amnion/chorion membranes. HA=hyaluronic acid, IL-1ra= interleukin- 1 receptor antagonist, HGF=hepatocyte growth factor, PDGF-BB=platelet-derived growth factor subunit B homodimer, VEGFR1 =vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1. Results are presented as average pg eluted from the membrane per cm2 of product ± standard error of the mean. n=5;

FIG 5B. Anti-inflammatory and regenerative factors delivered from dehydrated, sterilized amnion/chorion membranes. Elution of HA, IL-1ra, HGF, PDGF-BB and VEGFR1 from BioRetain processed amnion/chorion membranes. HA=hyaluronic acid, IL-1ra= interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, HGF=hepatocyte growth factor, PDGF- BB=platelet-derived growth factor subunit B homodimer, VEGFR1 =vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1. Results are presented as average pg eluted from the membrane per cm2 of product ± standard error of the mean. n=5;

FIG, 6 depicts various human endogenous pathways activated by vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1 ), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 ra), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), hyaluronic acid (HA), glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and platelet derived growth factor subunit B homodimer (PDGF-BB) are associated with cellular remodeling, wound healing, and other human endogenous pathways in vivo;

FIG. 7 depicts the retention of available exosomes in the sterile human allografts prepared from the methods disclosed herein; Exosomes carry protected RNA, miRNA and some proteins. The exosomes act as protected packets of information for the local environment (recipient cells); FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, and FIG. 80 are graphs depicting PDDF-BB concentrations, HGF concentrations and HA concentrations within Example 1 (sterile human placental allograft disclosed herein with intact in cross-section in which the human amnion layer and the human chorion layer have an Intact human intermediate spongy layer positioned there between connecting the human amnion layer to the human chorion layer) compared to commercially available products that include dehydrated amnion and chorion therein (i.e., Comparative Example 1 ("Comp Ex. 1 ”) and Comparative Example 2 (“Comp. Ex. 2”);

FIG. 9 is a graph depicting IL-1ra concentration within Example 2 (sterile human placental allograft disclosed herein that consists essentially of human amnion) compared to a commercially available product that only includes dehydrated amnion therein (i.e., Comparative Example 3 ("Comp Ex. 3");

FIG. 10A is a photograph of the sterile human placental allograft of FIG. 8A (i.e., Example 1); FIG. 10B is a photograph of the commercially available product of FIG. 8B (i.e., Comp Ex. 1, https://organogenesis.com/surgical- sports-medicine/nushield/; Accessed on August 1 , 2022), and FIG. 10C is a photograph of the commercially available product of FIG. 8C (i.e., Comp Ex. 2, https://www.mimedx.com/products/epifix/; Accessed on August 1 , 2022); and

FIG. 11A is a photograph of the sterile human placental allograft of FIG. 9 (i.e., Example 2), and FIG. 11B a photograph of the commercially available product of FIG. 9 (i.e., Comp Ex. 3, https://www.petepetit.com/pete-petit-professional- blog/2015/mimedx-products-amniofix.html Accessed on August 1 , 2022).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described more fuily hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. However, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the representative embodiments set forth herein. The exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be both thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention and enable one of ordinary skill In the art to make, use and practice the Invention. It must be noted that, as used in the specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, "an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Concentrations, amounts, and other numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within the ranges as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration, a numerical range of “about 1 to 5" should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but also include individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3, and 4 and sub-ranges such as from 1-3, from 2-4, and from 3-5, etc. as well as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, individually. The same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value as a minimum or a maximum. Furthermore, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described.

"Standardization” as referred to herein allows for an accurate determination of growth factors and components within the disclosed compositions for subsequent use and treatment(s) (e.g., wound healing treatments) in subjects in need thereof. Applicant has determined the range of delivered factors per cm2 as delivered to the patient (subject in need thereof). What this means is that the amount of IL-1ra, HGF, VEGFR1 , HA, etc. delivered to the patient/subject in need thereof is measured as the amount eluted from 1 cm2 of the sterile human placental allograft. The quantification process used for standardization of the disclosed sterile human placental allograft Is used to accurately reflect the relationship between human placental ailograft and the growth factors and other chemical components therein. The standardization calculation is determined from the equation:

This is accomplished by taking a sample with a known cm2 (biopsy punch preferred). The sample/punch is placed in buffer for 48-72 hours, 37oC. The contents are collected and assayed for the desired components. The results are multiplied by the amount of buffer collected. This number is divided by the cm2 of the sample/punch. This can be utilized for any volume of eluate used and any sample size. The testing presented in this invention utilized a 10 mm biopsy punch (78.54 cm2) in a buffered solution (1× PBS) at 370C for 72 hours, mimicking the application of the sterile human placental allograft in a wound space, internal or external. The eluate was collected and analyzed, mimicking what was eluted from the sterile human placental allograft to the wound. This results in a controlled and relatable amount of the sterile human placental allograft that has been tested, yielding a controlled, relatable, and quantifiable amount of growth factors and stromal components.

The phrases “human placental tissue" and “placental tissue” are used interchangeably herein to indicate human placental tissue. Unless otherwise explicitly stated herein, “human placental tissue" and "placental tissue" refer to either the completely intact human placenta (having a human umbilical cord, human amnion, human chorion, and intact human intermediate spongy layer positioned between and connecting the human amnion layer and human chorion layer) or intact human placenta tissue (i.e., only including human amnion, human chorion, and intact human intermediate spongy layer) in cross-section in which a human amnion layer and a human chorion layer have an intact human intermediate spongy layer positioned there between connecting the human amnion layer to the human chorion layer. In certain explicitly stated instances herein, “human placental tissue” and/or placental tissue consists essentially of or only consist of the human amnion that is separated from ail other placental tissues. Likewise, unless explicitly stated otherwise, "sterile human placental allograft” refers allografts having intact human placenta tissue in crosssection (i.e., only including human amnion, human chorion, and intact human intermediate spongy layer) in which a human amnion layer and a human chorion layer have an intact human intermediate spongy layer positioned there between connecting the human amnion layer to the human chorion layer. In the explicitly stated instances herein, “sterile human placental allograft" refers to an allograft consisting essentially of or only consist of the human amnion that is separated from ali other placental tissues.

Disclosed herein are safe, biocompatible, growth factor-rich sterile human placental allografts and methods of preparing/producing the same. The allografts and methods disclosed herein achieve these biocompatible, growth factor-rich steriie human placental allografts grafts while maintaining a growth factor profile that mimics the human placenta in vivo and that is improved compared to conventional allografts thereby achieving better therapeutic outcomes for dental applications and wound healing.

Preparation of Sterilized Human Placental Allograft

As alluded to above, it is an object to prepare sterile human placental allografts that maintain a growth factor profile that mimics the human placenta in vivo. The methods disclosed herein utilize mild conditions to ensure that various endogenous growth factors in the human placental tissue including, but not limited to, IL-1ra, HGF, VEGFR1 , HA, PDGF-BB, GAGs, and collagen are preserved (and/or loss thereof is minimized) in the end resulting sterile human placental allografts disclosed herein. As generally shown in FIG. 1 , the disclosed methods clean and prepare the human placental tissues in a gentle and effective manner, while minimizing the risk involved of compromising the biologic tissue for subsequent allograft implantation/transplantation. In particular and as disclosed in detail further below, the disclosed methods utilize various mild cleaning, preservation, and mild sterilization techniques using cold physiological buffers, gentle handling, dehydration at ambient or physioiogicai temperatures, and miid sterilization conditions of the human placental allografts disclosed herein to obtain sterile human placental allografts that maintain a growth factor profile that mimics the human placenta in vivo. These sterile human placental allografts have various different clinical and cosmetic purposes and may achieve, for example, improved wound healing when compared with conventional human placental allografts. Furthermore, the allografts disclosed herein meet or exceed all requirements set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB).

In view of FIG. 1 and before subjecting the human placental tissue to step (a) of FIG. 1, all human placental tissue goes through a donor pre-screening and screening process. A short description of FIG. 1 is as follows: Step (a) in FIG. 1 : Minimally damaging disinfection. The membrane is submerged in an effective bactericidal, tuberculocidal, fungicidal and virucidal solution to eliminate pathogens.

Step (al) in FIG. 1 : Manual membrane separation. The membrane is separated into any desired components.

Step (b) in FIG. 1 : Manual hematopoietic reduction. Blood and blood-producing components are removed by hand without scraping or scrubbing to preserve membrane structure.

Step (c) in FIG. 1 : Cold isotonic cleansing. A series ot washes in clean, low- temperature, pH-Balanced solution with gentle stirring remove remaining debris while minimizing tissue and growth factor breakdown.

Step (d) in FiG. 1: Gentle and gradual dehydration. Slow drying of the membrane using physiological temperature preserves tissue structure and natural growth factors, preventing damage from freezing or high temperatures.

Step (e) in FIG. 1: Precise cutting die placement. Precise, manual placement of cutting dies helps ensure optimal tissue quality for each individual allograft.

Step (f) in FIG. 1: Low-dose E-beam terminal sterilization. Grafts are individually packed and terminally sterilized via electron beam, avoiding harmful biproducts or excessive irradiation associated with other methods.

Donor pre-screening includes screening the donor’s medical and social history, interviewing the donor, and physically examining the donor to eliminate high-risk donors from the potential donor pool. Either during pre-screening process or after concluding the pre-screening process, cultures of the donor’s tissue and donor blood specimens are collected for comprehensive serological testing, which are subsequently performed in FDA registered and CLIA certified laboratories to further determine viability of the human donor’s placental tissue for the method disclosed herein. Serological testing includes screening the donor and/or human placental tissue for the following transmissible diseases:

• Hepatitis:

• Hepatitis-B Surface Antigen

• Hepatitis-B Core Antibody

• Antibodies to the Hepatitis-C Virus • Hepatitis-B Nucleic Acid Test

• Hepatitis-C Nucleic Acid Test

• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV):

• Antibodies to HIV-1

• Antibodies to HIV-2

• HIV Nucleic Acid Test

• Syphilis - Rapid Plasma Reagin

• Leukemia/Lymphoma

• Antibodies to Human T-Lymphotropic Virus 1

• Antibodies to Human T-Lymphotropic Virus 2

• West Nile Virus

In addition to the above serological testing and before subjecting the human placental tissue to step (a) of FIG. 1 , bioburden samples are collected to evaluate the number of viable microorganisms on or in the human placental tissue. In addition, environmental monitoring samples are collected throughout to evaluate the quality of surfaces and air. The above-mentioned collections ensure that the human placental tissue and processing thereafter meet consistent microbiological control(s).

FIG. 1 schematically depicts the method of preparing a sterile human placental allograft. The method includes (a) providing a human placental tissue from a donor within 24 hours to 72 hours post-childbirth; optionally (ai) separating desired components (amnion, chorion, amnion/chorion together, umbilical cord, etc) from the placenta, (b) removing any visible blood, blood clots, blood components, and/or debris from the human placental tissue without scraping or scrubbing the human placental tissue to preserve structural integrity of the human placental tissue; (c) washing the human placental tissue in an isotonic solution while maintaining the structural integrity of the human placental tissue; (d) dehydrating the human placental tissue thereby forming the dehydrated human placental tissue; (e) resizing the dehydrated human placental tissue into dehydrated human placental tissue portions having predetermined sizes; and (f) sterilizing the dehydrated human placental tissue portions of step (e) thereby forming the sterile human placental allograft.

After obtaining the human placental tissue from the donor, the human placental tissue is disinfected during step (a). In particular, the human placental tissue is placed into a bactericidal, tuberculocidal, fungicidal, and/or virucidal composition. In particular, the human placental tissue is placed into 250 ml to 1000 ml (500 ml preferred) of an alcohol solution to rinse away any extraneous non-placental components and/or any other potential contaminants. The alcohol solution preferably is isopropyl alcohol at a concentration of 70% to 100%. In preferred embodiments the alcohol concentration ranges from 70% to 75%, and in most preferred embodiments, the alcohol is 70% isopropyl alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol is preferred over other commercially available lab and/or pharmaceutical grade alcohols, such as ethanol, because isopropyl alcohol advantageously disinfects and cleans the human placental tissue without damaging (e.g., unduly dehydrating, initiating apoptotic processes, and/or necrotic processes) the placental tissue for 60 seconds to 120 seconds (90 seconds preferred) at 4 oC to 20 oC thereby reducing and/or eliminating the presence of microbes, fungi, and viruses (preferably any pathogenic microbes, fungi, and/or viruses if present) on the surface and/or within the human placental tissues. Step (a) uses minimally damaging bactericidal, tuberculocidal, fungicidal and virucidal disinfection in which the placental tissue is placed into an effective and minimally damaging disinfectant for the required time to gently reduce and/or eliminate any external contamination including, but not limited to, mycobacteria, fungi and many viruses, including herpes, HIV, Influenza, Hepatitis B and C, Ebola and BARS.

After step (a), the disinfected human placental tissue from step (a) undergoes step (b) in which the disinfected human placental tissue is visually inspected and any visible blood, blood ciots, blood components, and/or undesirable debris are removed without scraping or scrubbing the human placental tissue in order to preserve structurai integrity of the human placental tissue as well as the endogenous growth factors therein. In certain preferred aspects, step (b) of FIG. 1 is a manual hematopoietic reduction step in which forceps and/or tweezers, soft wet gauze and scalpels are used to remove any visible blood, blood clots, biood components, and/or undesirable debris. Hematopoietic components may also be displaced by hand, without any and/or without excess scraping or scrubbing to preserve the disinfected human placental tissue’s membrane integrity and to further preserve various endogenous growth factors (e.g., IL-1 ra, HGF, VEGFR1 , HA, PDGF-BB, GAGs, and collagen) therein. As should be appreciated, the presence of blood, blood clots, blood components, and/or any other undesirable debris induces immunogenic responses. Therefore, removal of blood, blood clots, blood components, and/or any other undesirable debris is imperative to reduce immunogenicity and/or the probability of an immunogenic response, if any, of the end resulting sterilized human allograft when implanted/transplanted into a human subject in need thereof.

After step (b), the human placental tissue is subjected to at least one cleaning/wash step as depicted in step (c) of FIG. 1. During step (c), the human placental tissue is placed into an isotonic solution (and/or an iso-osmolar solution) to rinse away any extraneous non-human placental components and/or any other potential contaminants. In certain aspects, the isotonic solution comprises at least one of 1x phosphate buffered saline, isotonic saline, lactated ringers, Plasma-Lyte® (NaCI 5.26 g/L, KCi 0.37 g/L, Magnesium Chloride hexahydrate 0.30 g/L, Sodium Acetate trihydrate 3.68 g/L, Sodium Gluconate 5.02 g/L at pH 7.4), Normosol® (NaCI 5.26 g/L, KCi 0.37 g/L, Magnesium Chloride 0.30 g/L, Sodium Acetate anhydrous 2.22 g/L, Sodium Gluconate 5.02 g/L at pH 7.4), or any combination thereof. The washing step of step (c) may occur once and/or may be repeated one time, two times, three times, or four times with each wash step occurring for 5 to15 minutes with a predetermined volume (e.g., 250 mL to 1000 mL, preferably 500 mL) of the isotonic solution at a temperature ranging from 4 oC to 20 oC. Step (c) preferably occurs at low-temperature with the isotonic solutions having balanced pH, which further advantageously reduces and/or eliminates human placental tissue degradation and/or endogenous growth factor degradation (e.g., IL-1ra, HGF, VEGFR1 , HA, PDGF-BB, GAGs, and collagen) during step (c). Although the above-mentioned isotonic solutions may be used, it should be further appreciated that no harsh chemicals/solutions such as harsh organic or harsh inorganic acids, harsh bases, and/or harsh peroxides (e.g., NaOH, carboxylic acids, HCI, H2O2) are used during step (c) or at any time during the method depicted in FIG. 1. In particular, the use of harsh organic or harsh inorganic acids, harsh bases, or harsh peroxides can detrimentally result in human placental tissue degradation as well as endogenous growth factor degradation and should be avoided for these reasons.

After step (c) and as further shown in FIG. 1, the human placental tissue is subjected to a dehydration/drying step (d). In particular, the human placental tissue is gently laid flat at ambient temperature for 2-12 hours in the biosafety cabinet with a circulating fan to dehydrate/dry the human placental tissue, or placed in a dehydrator for ½ hour to 6 hours, more preferably from 1 hours to 4 hours (at a temperature ranging 30 oC to 40 oC) to obtain the dehydrated human placental tissue. Slow dehydrating/drying of the human placental tissue advantageously preserves tissue structure, integrity, and the endogenous growth factors therein while advantageously avoiding damage frequently observed from freezing (e.g. freeze-drying) and/or drying at high temperatures (e.g. accelerated drying) human placental tissues. The end resulting dehydrated human placental tissue has a maximum water content ranging from 10 wt% to 15 wt%, which reduces the likelihood of any endogenous degradative processes reliant on the presence of water thereby further minimizing growth factor degradation during the method of FIG. 1.

After step (d), the dehydrated human placental tissue is resized during step (e) into dehydrated human placental tissue portions having predetermined sizes and predetermined shapes. When resizing the dehydrated human placental tissue into the dehydrated human placental tissue portions, a die having predetermined size(s) and/or dimension(s) and/or shape(s) may be used to precisely resize the dehydrated human placental tissue into dehydrated human placental tissue portions into the desired shape thereby ensuring for optimal tissue size, shape, and quality for each end resuiting sterile human placental allografts produced by the methods disclosed herein. In certain aspects, the dehydrated human placental tissue portions is resized into a circular shape, a square shape, a rectangular shape, a rhomboid shape, an ovoid shape, a triangular shape, or any combination thereof. Each of these shapes may have various different sizes and/or dimensions for varied end uses and/or applications. In certain aspects, the predetermined sizes of the dehydrated placental tissue portions range from 1 cm x 1 cm to 8 cm x 8 cm for the rectangular and/or square shaped dehydrated placental tissue portions in which any end points within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. In certain aspects, the predetermined sizes of the dehydrated placental tissue portions range from, 8 mm diameter to 50 mm diameter for circular shaped dehydrated placental tissue portions in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. In certain aspects, the dehydrated human placental tissue portions may further include a planar upper or lower surface, or the human placental tissue portion includes both planar upper and lower surfaces.

After step (e), the dehydrated human placental tissue portions of step (e) (resized portions having the desired predetermined shape(s) and size(s)) are subsequently sterilized during step (f) thereby forming the sterile human placental allograft. In certain aspects, the sterilizing step (f) includes sterilizing the dehydrate human piacental tissue portions with e-beam irradiation to a sterility assurance level (SAL) of 10-6, as determined by dose mapping by E-beam vendor, thereby forming the sterile human placental allograft in which the SAL, expressed as 10-N, is the expected probability of surviving organisms post treatment (e.g., expected probability of any surviving microorganism after sterilization is 10-6 or less). Before sterilization, the dehydrated human placental tissue portions of step (e) (resized portions having the desired predetermined shape(s) and size(s)) may be first placed into either into primary and/or secondary packaging and then subjected to low-dose E-beam irradiation to produce the sterile human placental allograft, which is ready for end use (after removal from the primary or secondary packaging). Alternatively, the dehydrated human placental tissue portions of step (e) (resized portions having the desired predetermined shape(s) and size(s)) may be first subjected to low-dose E- beam irradiation to produce the sterile human placental allograft and then may be subsequently placed into sterile packaging while maintaining sterility of the sterile human placental allograft for subsequent end use.

Low-dose E-beam irradiation is particularly preferred to other sterilization methods because these other methods require direct access to the human placental tissue and leave residual contaminants (e.g. ethylene oxide) on the end resulting allograft, which may result in an immunogenic response when the resulting allograft is used, or require exposure of the tissue to extended periods of higher dose irradiation (e.g. gamma irradiation), which unnecessarily degrades structural integrity and endogenous growth factors of the placental tissue.

As further shown in FIGs. 10A and 11A, the sterile human placental allografts produced by the above methods have predetermined shapes and sizes. As alluded to above, the sterile human piacental allografts may be circular shaped, square shaped, rectangular shaped, rhomboid shaped, ovoid shaped, triangular shaped, or any combination thereof. Each of these shapes may have various different sizes and/or dimensions for varied end uses and/or applications. In certain aspects, the predetermined sizes of the sterile human placental allografts range from 1 cm x 1 cm to 8 cm x 8 cm for rectangular and/or square shaped sterile human placental allografts in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein and ranging from 2mm diameter to 50 mm diameter for circular and/or round sterile human placental allografts in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. In certain aspects, the sterile human placental allografts may further include a planar upper or lower surface, or the sterile human placental allografts includes both planar upper and lower surfaces. Moreover, and as shown in FIGs. 10A and 11 A, the sterile human placental allografts may have a thickness ranging from 0.01 mm to 0.2 mm, and may further have a translucent appearance.

Upon concluding step (f), all sterile human placental allografts are subjected to quality control(s) and lot control(s). All records from the human placental tissue processing from the above-mentioned methods are finally reviewed by Medical Director(s) and Site Quality Head to ensure a thorough quality assurance review and compliance of the resulting sterile human allografts with the applicable government rules, compliance, and procedures.

Sterilized Human Placental Allograft

The sterile human placental allografts disclosed herein can be produced by the methods disclosed herein. The allografts disclosed herein are safe, biocompatible, growth factor-rich sterile human placental allografts having much higher amounts of growth factors therein than conventional allografts in the field that better mimic the growth factor profile of human placenta in vivo than other conventional allografts, thereby achieving better therapeutic outcomes for dental applications and wound healing and/or better cosmetic/aesthetic outcomes depending on the application. The sterile human placental allografts disclosed herein are preferably non-immunogenic - resulting in little or no Immune response post-impiantation/transplantation into a human recipient and/or post-application to a wound in and/or on the subject in need thereof. The sterile human placental allografts disclosed herein are particularly rich in interleukin- 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1), hyaluronic acid (HA), platelet derived growth factor subunit B hhmodimer (PDGF-BB), glycosaminoglycans (GAGs); and collagen when compared with conventional allografts. Moreover, FIG. 6 schematically depicts various human endogenous pathways activated by vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), hyaluronic acid (HA), glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and that ), platelet derived growth factor subunit B homodimer (PDGF-BB) are associated with cellular remodeling, wound healing, and other human endogenous pathways in vivo. In particular, IL-1 ra binds non-productively to the IL-1 (pro-inflammatory cytokine) receptor, preventing IL-1 (inflammatory molecule) from sending a signal. This results in modulation of a variety of IL-1 related immune and inflammatory responses. HGF is cellular growth, motility and morphogenic factor secreted by mesenchymal cells. It has been shown to have a major role in embryonic organ development, specifically in myogenesis, in adult organ regeneration, and in wound healing. Importantly, increased expression of HGF has been associated with the enhanced and scarless wound healing capabilities of fibroblast ceils isolated from the oral mucosa tissue. VEGFR1 acts as a cell-surface receptor for VEGF-A, VEGF-B and PGF for the development of embryonic vasculature, the regulation of angiogenesis, cell survival and cell migration. VEGFR1 can promote endothelial cell proliferation, survival and angiogenesis in adulthood. Its function in promoting cell proliferation seems to be cell-type specific. For example, it promotes PGF-mediated proliferation of endothelial cells, but does not promote proliferation of normal fibroblasts (in vitro). PDGF-BB is a powerful promoter of ceil proliferation and plays a significant role in angiogenesis (blood vessel formation), including the growth of blood vessels from already-existing blood vessel tissue. PDGF-BB promotes the proliferation and directed migration of mesenchymal cells and significantly augments the influx of inflammatory cells, accelerating extracellular matrix and collagen formation and thus reducing overall wound healing time. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are present In all mammalian tissues where they Interact with other ECM components to organize and form structural scaffolding suitable for remodeling. GAGs also modulate cell growth and proliferation, cell adhesion, anticoagulation, and wound repair. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a well- documented chief component of the extracellular matrix. HA is a non-sulfated glycosaminoglycan that, among other things, provides a backbone for sulfated glycosaminoglycans. HA also binds integrins resulting in stabilized ECM and absorbs water which is another chief component of the ECM. The high molecular mass of HA results in unique biophysical properties, such as, high viscoelasticity and high colioid osmotic pressure. Additionally, HA leads to extracellular matrix stabilization, water maintenance and regulation of protein distribution. Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body and a key component of the extraceilular matrix, and during wound healing, collagen attract fibroblasts and encourage deposition of new collagen as well as bind and inactivate excessive matrix metalloproteinase (degradation). Exosomes are vesicles ranging from 30 to 200 nm that enable intercellular communication without direct cell-cell contact. They are released through the membrane of ceils [Keller 2006, Zomer 2010] (in this case, placental cells) and taken up by the tissues where they release signals that came from the placental tissue. As a result, signals for development and regeneration are delivered to cells of the damaged tissue. Exosomes are enriched in small RNA species including miRNAs, which have been demonstrated to be functional in the recipient cells [Montecalvo 2008], Exosomes have gained momentum as a safe and effective therapy for skin wounds/ disorders [Subhan 2021].

In certain aspects and as further shown in FIGs. 3A-3F, FIGs. 5A and 5B, and FIG. 10A, the sterile human placental allograft is intact in cross-section in which the human amnion layer and the human chorion layer have an intact human intermediate spongy layer positioned there between connecting the human amnion layer to the human chorion layer, wherein these allografts include at least one, at least two, at least three, at least four, at least five, at least six, at least seven, or at least eight of the following: (a) interleukin- 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 ra) ranging from 200 to 7800 pg/cm2 and more preferably ranging from 1000 to 6000 pg/cm2 (b) hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) ranging from 500 to 8500 pg/cm2 and more preferably ranging from 1000 to 7500 pg/cm2; (c) vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1 ) ranging from 1000 to 2750 pg/cm2 and more preferably ranging from 900 to 2500 pg/cm2; (d) hyaluronic acid (HA) ranging from 5.0 x 106 to 1.5 x 108 pg/cm2 and more preferably ranging from 1 .5 x 107 to 1.0 x 108 pg/cm2; (e) platelet derived growth factor subunit B homodimer (PDGF-BB) ranging from 150 to 400 pg/cm2 and more preferably ranging from 200 to 375 pg/cm2; (f) glycosaminoglycans (GAGs); (g) collagen, and (h) exosomes in which any endpoints within any of the above-mentioned ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. The above referenced concentrations were obtained/calculated by the “standardization” calculations and methods disclosed herein. It should be further appreciated that these allografts are configured for specific dental, wound healing, and cosmetic purposes are preferably implantable/transplantable in a subject in need thereof or may be applied to superficial wounds (e.g., diabetic ulcers). In this aspect, these sterile human placental allografts have predetermined shapes and sizes in which the predetermined shapes may include, but are not limited to, circular shaped, square shaped, rectangular shaped, rhomboid shaped, ovoid shaped, triangular shaped, or any combination thereof. Moreover, the predetermined sizes of the sterile human placental allografts include dimensions ranging from 1 cm x 1 cm to 8 cm x 8 cm in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein and/or diameters ranging from 8mm diameterto 50mm diameter in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. Depending on the specific use, these sterile human placental allografts may further include a planar upper or lower surface, or these sterile human placental allografts includes both planar upper and lower surfaces. Further depending on the specific use, the sterile human placental allografts may have a thickness ranging from 0.08 mm to 0.2 mm, and may further have a translucent appearance as shown, for example, in FIG. 10A.

In certain aspects and as further shown in FIGs. 2A-2F, FIGs. 4A and 4B, and FIG. 11A, the sterile human placental allograft consists essentially of the human amnion membrane, and/or in further aspects, the sterile human placental allograft consists of the human amnion membrane. In each of these aspects, the sterile human placental allograft (consisting essentially of and/or consisting of the amnion membrane) include at least one, at least two, at least three, at least four, at least five, at least six, at least seven, or at least eight of the following: (a) Interleukin- 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1 ra) ranging from 150 to 1800 pg/cm2 and more preferably ranging from 200 to 1500 pg/cm2 (b) hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) ranging from 75 to 400 pg/cm2 and more preferably ranging from 150 to 350 pg/cm2; (c) vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1 ) ranging from 50 to 250 pg/cm2 and more preferably ranging from 75 to 200 pg/cm2; (d) hyaluronic acid (HA) ranging from 1.1 x 106 to 2.0 x 107 pg/cm2 and more preferably ranging from 1.5 x 106 to 1.8 x 107 pg/cm2; (e) platelet derived growth factor subunit B homodimer (PDGF-BB) ranging from 200 to 500 pg/cm2 and more preferably ranging from 250 to 450 pg/cm2; (f) glycosaminoglycans (GAGs); (g) collagen, and (h) exosomes in which any endpoints within any of the above-mentioned ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. The above referenced concentrations were obtained by the “standardization" calculations and methods disclosed herein. It should be further appreciated that these allografts are configured for specific dental, wound healing, and cosmetic purposes are preferably implantable/transplantable in a subject in need thereof or may be applied to superficial wounds (e.g., diabetic uicers). In this aspect, these sterile human placental allografts have predetermined shapes and sizes in which the predetermined shapes may include, but are not limited to, circular shaped, square shaped, rectangular shaped, rhomboid shaped, ovoid shaped, triangular shaped, or any combination thereof. Moreover, the predetermined sizes of the sterile human placental allografts include dimensions ranging from 1 cm x 1 cm to 8 cm x 8 cm in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein and/or diameters ranging from 8mm diameter to 50 mm diameter in which any endpoints within any of these ranges may serve as endpoints for any additional ranges falling therein. Depending on the specific use, these sterile human placental allografts may further include a planar upper or lower surface, or these sterile human placental allografts includes both planar upper and lower surfaces. Further depending on the specific use, the sterile human placental allografts may have a thickness ranging from 0.01 mm to 0.05 mm, and may further have a translucent appearance as shown in, for example, FIG. 11 A.

Kits And Methods of Use

Also disclosed herein are kits comprising the sterile human placental allograft packaged in a sterile container. Upon opening the sterile container, the sterile human placental allograft packaged therein is ready for the desired end use. The sterile human allografts are configured for specific dental, wound healing, and/or cosmetic purposes and are preferably implantable/transplantable in a subject in need thereof or may be applied to superficial wounds (e.g., diabetic ulcers). As alluded to above, the sterile human placental allografts disclosed herein are preferably non-immunogenic - resulting in little or no immune response post-lmplantation/transplantation into and/or topicai application to a human recipient.

In certain aspects, further disclosed are methods of treating wounds in a human subject in need thereof comprising contacting the wound with a sterile human placental allograft for a predetermined time period to facilitate wound healing in the human subject in need thereof. The predetermined time period includes from 3 days to 30 days for implantation uses and from 1 day to 5 days for topical uses. In certain aspects, the sterile human placental allograft is implanted in the subject in need thereof in which the wound is an internal wound within the subject in need thereof and/or a dental wound, thereby facilitating wound healing by elution/diffusion of the growth factors from the sterile human placental allograft into the wound. Moreover, the sterile humane placental allograft remains in the subject in need thereof acting as a scaffold for cellular and tissue remodeling post-elution/diffusion of the growth factors from the sterile human placental allograft into the wound, and the allograft eventually is resorbed within the subject in need thereof. In certain other aspects, the sterile human placental allograft is topically applied to the wound in the human subject in need thereof. Topical applications of the sterile human placental allograft may be used to treat, for example, diabetic ulcers (e.g., diabetic foot ulcers) and/or other regularshaped or irregular shaped topical wounds (to the epidermis, dermis, and/or hypodermis) in a human subject in need thereof. The sterile human placental allograft is placed topically on a wound in a subject in need thereof for a predetermined period of time, thereby facilitating wound healing by elution/diffusion of the growth factors from the sterile human placental allograft onto and into the wound.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises either before step (a) or during step (a) disinfecting the human placental tissue with at least one of a bactericidal composition, a tuberculocidal composition, a fungicidal composition, a virucidal composition, or any combination thereof, wherein the at least one of a bactericidal composition, ttuubbeerrccuulloocciiddaall composition, fungicidal composition, virucidal composition, or any combination thereof includes an isopropyl alcohol at a concentration of 70% to 100%; and/or wherein each wash step (c) is at a temperature ranging from 4 to 15 °C for a time-period of from 5 minutes to 15 minutes; and/or wherein the dehydrating step (d) is at a temperature ranging from 20 to 40 °C for a time-period of from 60 minutes to 4.5 hours; and/or wherein the sterilizing step (f) comprises sterilizing with e-beam irradiation.

In an aspect, the present invention relates to a method of preparing a sterile human placental allograft comprising:

(a) providing a human placental tissue from a donor within 24 hours to 72 hours post-childbirth, wherein either before step (a) or during step (a) disinfecting the human placental tissue with at least one of a bactericidal composition, a tuberculocidal composition, a fungicidal composition, a virucidal composition, or any combination thereof, wherein the at least one of a bactericidal composition, tuberculocidal composition, fungicidal composition, virucidal composition, or any combination thereof includes an isopropyl alcohol at a concentration of 70% to 100%;

(b) removing any visible blood, blood clots, and/or blood components from the human placental tissue without scraping or scrubbing the human placental tissue to preserve structural integrity of the human placental tissue;

(c) washing the human placental tissue in an isotonic solution while maintaining the structural integrity of the human placental tissue at a temperature ranging from 4 to 15 °C for a time-period of from 5 minutes to 15 minutes;

(d) dehydrating the human placental tissue thereby forming the dehydrated human placental tissue at a temperature ranging from 20 to 40 °C for a time-period of from 60 minutes to 4.5 hours;

(e) resizing the dehydrated human placental tissue into dehydrated human placental tissue portions having predetermined sizes; and

(f) sterilizing the dehydrated human placental tissue portions of step (e) with e- beam irradiation thereby forming the sterile human placental allograft.

In an aspect, the present invention relates to a sterile human placental allograft (preferably according to the present invention) for use in the treatment of a wound. In an aspect, the present invention relates to a sterile human placental allograft (preferably according to the present invention) for use in the treatment of a wound in a human subject in need thereof, the treatment comprising contacting the wound with said sterile human placental allograft for a predetermined time period to facilitate wound healing in the human subject in need thereof.

The sterile human placental allograft for use, wherein the sterile human placental allograft is implanted in the subject in need thereof. The sterile human placental allograft for use, wherein the wound is an internal wound within the subject in need thereof and/or a dental wound. The sterile human placental allograft for use, wherein the sterile human placental allograft is topically applied to the wound in the human subject in need thereof. The sterile human placental allograft for use, wherein the wound is a diabetic ulcer. The sterile human placental allograft for use, wherein the wound is a diabetic foot ulcer.

WORKING EXAMPLES

The following examples are put forth so as to provide those of ordinary skill in the art with a complete disclosure and description of how the compounds, compositions, and methods described and claimed herein are made and evaluated, and are intended to be purely exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of what the inventors regard as their invention. Efforts have been made to ensure accuracy with respect to numbers (e.g., amounts, temperature, etc.) but some errors and deviations should be accounted for. Unless indicated otherwise, parts are parts by weight, temperature is in ° C or is at ambient temperature if not listed, and pressure is at or near atmospheric. There are numerous variations and combinations of conditions, e.g., component concentrations, temperatures, pressures and other reaction ranges and conditions that can be used to optimize the product purity and yield obtained from the described process. Only reasonable and routine experimentation will be required to optimize such process conditions.

FIGs. 8A-11B provide graphs and photographs of the exemplary sterile human allografts (Example 1 and Example 2) prepared by the methods/processes disclosed herein and further compared to various commercially available sterile human allografts (Comparative Examples 1 , 2, and 3). These graphs and photographs further evidence visual distinctions between the exemplary sterile human allografts disclosed herein as well as the drastically differing growth factor profiles when compared with the various commercially available sterile human allografts.

FIG. 8A, FIG. 8B, and FIG. 8C are graphs depicting PDGF-BB, HGF, and HA concentrations within Example 1 (sterile human placental allograft disclosed herein with intact in cross-section in which the human amnion layer and the human chorion layer have an intact human intermediate spongy layer positioned there between connecting the human amnion layer to the human chorion layer) compared to commercially available sterile human placental allograft products having dehydrated amnion and chorion therein (i.e., Comparative Example 1 (“Comp Ex. 1”) and Comparative Example 2 (“Comp. Ex. 2"). FIG. 10A is a photograph of the sterile human placental allograft of FIG. 8A (i.e., Example 1 ); FIG. 10B is a photograph of the commercially available product of FIG. 8B (i.e., Comp Ex. 1), and FIG. 10C is a photograph of the commercially available product of FIG. 8C (i.e., Comp Ex. 2).

It should be noted that Comparative Example 1 is a commercially available sterile human placental allograft composition (NuShield® by Organogenesis https://organogenesis.com/surgical-sports-medicine/nushield/ (accessed August 1 , 2022)) that was prepared by the Tutoplast® process (https://www.rtix.com/en_us/operational-excellence/patient-s afety/tissue- biologics/tutoplast-tissue-sterilization-process (accessed August 1 , 2022)). The Tutoplast® process uses numerous harsh wash processes to remove all lipids, bacteria and soluble proteins, and is terminaily sterilized by gamma radiation resulting in an end product that is a structural graft depleted of various growth factors.

It should be noted that Comparative Example 2 is a commercially available sterile human placental allograft composition (EpiFix® by Mimedx https://www.mimedx.com/products/epifix/ (accessed August 1 , 2022)) prepared by the Purion® process ( https://www.mimedx.com/purion-process/ (Accessed August 1 , 2022) and as further reported by Koob, et. al. 2013 and 2014), which separates the human amnion and human chorion layers, cleans them and then reattaches (laminates) the layers before dehydration.

As shown in FIGs. 8A, 8, and 8C, the sterile human placental allograft of Example 1 included considerably more of PDGF-BB, HGF, and HA (pg/cm2) therein than either of Comparative Examples 1 and 2. The graphs provided in FIGs. 8A, 8B, and 8C are adjusted from mg to cm2 by average weight of amnion/chorion per cm2 (7.72 mg/cm2). As further shown in FIGs. 8A, 8B, and 8C, Example 1 included an average of 320.31 % more PDGF-BB than Comparative Examples 1 and 2, 1142.41 % more HGF than Comparative Examples 1 and 2 and 1389.23 % more HA than Comparative Example 1. These results clearly indicate retention and preservation of various endogenous growth factors in the human sterile placental allograft of Example 1 when compared with commercially available similar products. FIGs. 10A-10C further corroborate these results in which FIG. 10A, although translucent, is more opaque than the Comparative Examples 1 and 2 (FIGs. 10B and 10C respectively), which further indicates retention and preservation of various endogenous growth factors in the human sterile placental allograft of Example 1 when compared with commercially available similar products.

FIG. 9 is a graph depicting IL-1 ra concentration within Example 2 (sterile human placental allograft disclosed herein that consists essentially of human amnion) compared to a commercially available product that only includes dehydrated amnion therein (i.e., Comparative Example 3 (“Comp Ex. 3”). In particular, Comparative Example 3 is AmnioFix® amnion by Mimedx https://www.petepetit.com/pete-petit- professional-blog/2015/mimedx-products-amniofix.html (accessed August 1, 2022)) prepared by the Purion® process (https://www.mimedx.com/purion-process/ (Accessed August 1 , 2022) and as further reported by Koob, et. al. 2013 and 2014).

As shown in FIG. 9, the sterile human placental allograft of Example 1 included on average 220.88% more IL- 1 ra than Comparative Example 3, which clearly indicates retention and preservation of various endogenous growth factors in the human sterile placental allograft of Example 2 (i.e., sterile human placental allograft disclosed herein that consists essentially of human amnion prepared by the disclosed methods/processes herein) when compared with commercially available similar product of Comparative Example 3. Moreover FIGs. 11 A and 11 B further corroborate these results in which FIG. 11A, although translucent, is more opaque than the highly processed, translucent visual appearance of Comparative Example 3 (FIGs. 11B), which further indicates retention and preservation of various endogenous growth factors in the human sterile placental allograft of Example 2 when compared with commercially available similar product.

The foregoing description provides embodiments of the invention by way of example only. It Is envisioned that other embodiments may perform similar functions and/or achieve similar results. Any and all such equivalent embodiments and examples are within the scope of the present invention and are intended to be covered by the appended claims.