Sniffing Out Staph Infections

Main Category: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Article Date: 18 Jan 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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MRSA and other superbugs made headlines last year as they invaded schools, gyms, community centers, and hospitals. MRSA, which stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, infects ninety thousand Americans per year in our hospitals and causes nineteen thousand deaths reported the government last year.

While the infection and mortality figures for MRSA are frightening, the "bug" is far more prevalent than one might think. Staphylococcus aureus colonizes, without infecting, up to 30% of the human population. With the superbug's ubiquity and ability to invade almost any environment, no place is considered safe against this deadly bacteria.

Once commonly thought of as a cure-all, antibiotics were the initial line of defense. Unfortunately, bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics due to overuse. Currently, the American Medical Association does not support the everyday use of antibiotics because of the ways in which they can inadvertently lower resistance.

"The evidence is there-antibiotics are not working," said Dr. Ron Najafi, CEO of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals. "We need to take a different approach to treating the rapidly increasing infectious microbes that have become resistant to our current slate of drugs."

NovaBay specializes in the development of product candidates targeting the treatment or prevention of a wide range of bacterial and viral infections and is currently working on a compound, NVC-422, which has shown promise combating numerous pathogens including MRSA. AgaNase™, NovaBay's formulation of NVC-422 for nasal applications, is unique in that it is an anti-infective, but technically not an antibiotic.

NovaBay believes that the colonization of Staphylococcus aureus takes place primarily in the nose and on the skin. The damp and dark qualities of nasal tissue create a perfect breeding ground for the bacteria to grow and spread. Topically applied to the lower nasal passage to eliminate colonization of Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA, AgaNase rapidly destroys a range of pathogens that include bacteria, yeast, and viruses.

"Because AgaNase is a chlorine-based analog of molecules produced by white blood cells, it is believed that bacteria and viruses are unlikely to develop resistance to this treatment," explains Dr. Najafi. "The dependence on antibiotics to protect against MRSA and other superbugs is a problem we must move past. In regards to MRSA and other superbugs, we believe the new buzz word is anti-infective instead of antibiotics."

http://www.novabaypharma.com

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