Glycoside Hydrolases to Treat Biofilm-associated Infections

Background

Chronic wounds inflate healthcare costs and complicate patient healing. Biofilms are a recurring cause of such wounds due to their resilience to antibiotics. Currently, there are no outstanding treatments. The standard of care is debridement followed by antibiotics, however these infections can be hard to treat because of the biofilms. This is in part because the extra polymeric substance (EPS), which is the backbone of biofilms, creates physical and chemical barriers to antibiotics.

Technology Overview

This technology is a specific combination of enzymes that have the ability to dismantle and degrade the biofilm EPS infrastructure in combination with an antibiotic. This can facilitate the healing process without the downside of debridement.

Further Details:

• Derek Fleming & Kendra Rumbaugh, The Consequences of Biofilm Dispersal on the Host, 8 Scientific Reports 10738 (July 16, 2018) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29121-2.
• Derek Fleming & Kendra Rumbaugh et al., Glycoside Hydrolases Degrade Polymicrobial Bacterial Biofilms in Wounds, 61 Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 2 (Nov. 21, 2016) https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.01998-16.

Stage of Development

Strong animal efficacy data has been obtained.

Benefits

• Permits the treatment of resistant bacterial infections
• Confers renewed usability to antibiotics that traditionally lacked the efficacy in biofilm environments

Applications

• Mouth wash
• Chronic wound healing
• Ocular infections
• Sinus infections

Opportunity

• Patent rights are available for licensing