Research Project
9198352
The prevalence of healthcare-associated infections is a critical issue in the medical community, resulting in compromised patient healthcare and billions of dollars in corrective costs. Chronic, non-healing wounds affect approximately 3-6 million people in the US each year, with an estimated annual cost of $5-$10 billion. As such, new methods are needed for producing antimicrobial agents to treat microbes resistant to existing anti-microbial agents in healthcare settings. In this Phase I SBIR proposal, Symbios Technologies? plasma technology will be applied toward the production of anti-infective solutions. In collaboration with CHD Bioscience, Symbios will develop and optimize a Selective Plasma Oxidation Reactor (SPOR) for the alternate production of CHD?s flagship product, VERIOXTM. VERIOX is a proprietary blend of peroxyacid compounds that demonstrates antimicrobial effects against a wide range of microbial contaminants and is greatly promising as a commercial anti-infective healthcare product. However, the current VERIOX batch manufacturing process is cost-, safety-, and efficiency- limited, since it reacts 50% hydrogen peroxide with high concentrations of pyruvic acid at -30 °C. Due to high HOOH levels and low temperatures, the production of VERIOX is currently cost prohibitive, and CHD has a difficult time identifying contract manufacturing organizations. To overcome such issues, the Symbios SPOR represents a critical advancement to allow for production of commercially relevant volumes of VERIOX in a safe, continuous, and low-cost fashion. Use of the SPOR does not require external addition of HOOH due to plasma production of oxidant species; additionally, the SPOR can be employed in a continuous flow configuration to prevent the safety concerns associated with batch production. Preliminary evidence suggests that the Symbios platform is able to convert pyruvic acid to 10% peroxyacid, despite the presence of iron-containing surfaces that compromise peroxyacid stability. Thus, this Phase I proposal will include (a) upgrading the reactor to eliminate iron surfaces, followed by (b) optimization of the system for peroxyacid production and analysis of the SPOR-produced solutions compared to VERIOX, (c) preliminary disinfection efficacy studies, and (d) economic modeling to inform commercial scaling of the SPOR. Overall, use of the Symbios SPOR platform as an alternate manufacturing platform will enable mass production of VERIOX in a safer and more cost-effective manner, which will enable the commercial readiness of VERIOX in the healthcare space. Phase I work will set up nicely for Phase II, where a more in-depth compositional analysis will be performed, along with additional efficacy studies employing animal wound-healing models.
