Imbed Biosciences Inc. has been awarded a $1.5 million NIH grant to research and develop a bioresorbable wound dressing with silver and gallium metal ions that can kill bacteria hiding in biofilms in wounds.
The Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases will support work for a period of two years.
“This antibiofilm dressing research program is built upon the clinical success of our next-generation FDA cleared Microlyte silver dressing that has been used in the treatment of thousands of chronic wounds patients in the U.S.,” said Ankit Agarwal, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO. “Research in this NIH Phase II grant will document a synergy in the unique ability of gallium ions to penetrate biofilms and sensitize bacteria to the antimicrobial action of silver ions.”
Microlyte is an ultra-thin polymeric film dressing made of bioresorbable synthetic polymers. It contains ionic and metallic silver that kill bacteria in contact with the dressing on a wound surface for up to three days. In earlier research, Imbed found a combination of silver and gallium in its Microlyte dressing eradicated mature biofilms in a murine wound model that did not respond to a commercial silver dressing.
Scientists in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will collaborate on the research and conduct preclinical studies in animal wound models necessary for FDA clearance.
