New Study Reaffirms Quick-Med's NIMBUS(R) Technology Poses No Threat Of Bacterial Resistance

Main Category: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 20 Nov 2008 - 1:00 PST

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Quick-Med Technologies, Inc. announced today that Dr. Albina Mikhaylova, Senior Scientist at Quick-Med, presented conclusive evidence at the Symposium on Skin and Wound Care that the Company's patented NIMBUS® antimicrobial technology poses no threat of bacterial resistance. The findings, presented in a podium session at this leading meeting of wound care practitioners, are in sharp contrast to known resistance issues with leading antibiotics that have allowed soaring hospital acquired infection rates seen worldwide.

The new study examined the propensity of NIMBUS antimicrobial barrier material to induce bacterial resistance. The testing of the survivors of each of ten consecutive generations of E. coli exposed to NIMBUS, the highly charged, substrate-bonded antimicrobial, revealed no change in bacterial resistance and consistently demonstrated the original high antimicrobial efficacy of the NIMBUS treated substrate. This finding comes at a time when public concern for the risk of serious infections from exposure to such bacteria as Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) is increasing because these highly resistant bacteria are proving to be increasingly refractory to successful therapy.

Dr. Gregory Schultz, Professor, Institute for Wound Research at the University of Florida, Past President of the Wound Healing Society, and scientific consultant to Quick-Med, has observed that, "NIMBUS poses no danger of bacteria developing resistance or of releasing toxic material into the wound and impeding the healing process. It is a novel technology: bonded and effective even in high concentrations of body fluids."

Medical treatment with antibiotics for unnecessary therapy has come under increasingly frequent scrutiny by physicians and other care-givers as a consequence of their concern for the increasing risk of nosocomial and community acquired infections from resistant bacteria such as MRSA and VRE.

Dr. Mikhaylova noted that the biomedical literature supports the theory that the chemistry of NIMBUS barrier materials precludes the development of resistance for three reasons: high charge density, molecular size, and the permanent bond of the antimicrobial to the substrate. These factors account for the unlikely potential of the microbicide to enter the bacterial cell protoplasm or to fall below the minimum level of active agent required to kill bacteria, both of which are necessary for the cell to develop resistance. The results of this ground-breaking work are being summarized in a research paper for publication.

NIMBUS technology is currently undergoing market clearance review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on its De Novo process, a pathway established by FDA for new, low risk technologies where there is no predicate device.

About Quick-Med Technologies, Inc.

Quick-Med Technologies, Inc. is a life sciences company that is developing innovative technologies for the healthcare and consumer markets. For more information, see: http://www.quickmedtech.com.

© 2008 Quick-Med Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. NIMBUS® is a registered trademark of Quick-Med Technologies, Inc.

Forward-looking statements (statements which are not historical facts) in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any statements contained in this release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "may," "will," "to," "expect," "plan," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," and/or "continue" or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those risks that are discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which may be accessed at the SEC's Edgar System at http://www.sec.gov.

Quick-Med Technologies, Inc.