Methods of making bioactive collagen wound care dressings

A method preparing a crosslinked, collagen-based wound care dressing, comprising:

• (a) immersing a sample of fibrous and/or non-fibrous collagen in a buffered acidic, aqueous solution comprising an alcohol, wherein the immersion of the sample of fibrous and/or non-fibrous collagen is conducted prior to crosslinking of the collagen;
• (b) subsequent to step (a), contacting the collagen in a separate solution with a catalytic component comprising 1-ethyl-3-[3-dimethylaminopropyl] carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDCl) for a time at least sufficient to effect reaction between amino and carboxyl groups present on the collagen and to yield crosslinked collagen, wherein the crosslinked collagen is resistant to pronase degradation when subjected to a pronase degradation test for at least five hours;
• and
• (c) drying the crosslinked collagen to yield a porous, crosslinked collagen article, wherein the pores of the porous, crosslinked collagen article have a pore size of 10-500 microns
• wherein after step (b) and prior to step (c) the crosslinked collagen is introduced into a mold, and further including the introduction of channels 10 um to 1000 um in size into the cross linked collagen via the mold.