Ceragenix Achieves 200 Days Of Antimicrobial Efficacy On Treated Silicone Medical Device

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  Dermatology
Article Date: 05 May 2009 - 8:00 PDT

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Ceragenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB:CGXP) (the "Company"), a medical device company focused on infectious disease and dermatology, announced that preclinical testing of a silicone medical device incorporating the Company's CeraShield™ antimicrobial technology has achieved 200 days of continuous antimicrobial efficacy. The prototype device being tested is an intravaginal silicone ring. Antimicrobial intravaginal rings may be of potential benefit in preventing transmission of certain sexually transmitted diseases. The Company had previously announced when it had achieved 120 days of continuous efficacy in the same study.

This recent testing was focused on urinary tract infections. The testing methodology involved soaking the device in artificial urine with a fresh inoculum of at least 1,000 colony forming units ("CFUs") per ml of E. coli on a daily basis. E. coli is a bacterial pathogen that is the most common cause of urinary tract infections. Millions of silicone urinary catheters are used annually and such devices are associated with high infection rates. It is estimated that of the 2 million hospital acquired infections that afflict patients each year in the United States, 900,000 are urinary tract infections. Of those, approximately 80% are linked to the use of urinary catheters.

The Company is working on incorporating the CeraShield™ technology into silicone based urinary catheters, among other ongoing projects. The antimicrobial efficacy testing is being conducted by Dr. Paul B. Savage's laboratory at Brigham Young University ("BYU"). Dr. Savage is the inventor of the Ceragenin™ technology, which is exclusively licensed by BYU to the Company.

Steve Porter, Chairman and CEO of Ceragenix stated: "We believe that achieving 200 days of antimicrobial efficacy in this rigorous testing of daily exposure to E. coli is a significant accomplishment. We are actively exploring ways to expand upon this promising finding by developing CeraShield™ formulations designed for use with in-dwelling medical devices made from a variety of materials. There are many potential commercial opportunities for use of the CeraShield™ technology in providing long lasting antimicrobial protection for in-dwelling medical devices, and we are currently in discussions with potential licensing partners for selected applications of the CeraShield™ technology."

Source
Ceragenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc