NIH Awards $1.66 Million Grant to Evaluate Cerashield™ Coating to Reduce Orthopedic Implant Infections
DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ceragenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(“Ceragenix”) (OTCBB:CGXP), a medical device company focused on infectious disease and dermatology today announced that the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) has awarded a $1.66 million grant to the University of Utah to fund research evaluating a Cerashield™ coating to reduce orthopedic implant infections. Roy Bloebaum, PhD, Research Professor at the University of Utah and Career Scientist and Director, Bone and Joint Research Laboratory of the Veterans Administration Hospital, Salt Lake City, is the principal investigator on the grant. The grant will fund preclinical evaluation of orthopedic implants coated with CSA-13, the active ingredient in Cerashield™ coatings. Multiple in vitro tests have demonstrated that CSA-13 has potent activity against a broad spectrum of strains of bacteria, including multidrug resistant strains such as Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA), which are associated with orthopedic implant infections. Paul B. Savage, PhD, Professor at Brigham Young University and inventor of CSA-13 is a co-investigator on the grant.
According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, approximately 766,000 Americans underwent surgery for hip, knee and shoulder replacements in 2002. During typical procedures, surgeons remove an arthritic or damaged joint and replace it with an artificial one. In about 1 to 2 percent of cases, the implant gets infected, most commonly with Staphylococcus epidermidis. The bacteria multiply, causing a slimy layer, or biofilm, to form around the implant which acts as a physical and chemical barrier that resists antibiotics. The result is additional surgery to clean the implant or replace it outright. Limited testing to date performed at the University of Utah has shown that CSA-13 coated orthopedic devices are able to rapidly kill bacteria and prevent the growth of biofilms, and have also demonstrated good biocompatibility.
