SBIR-STTR Award

Continuous Production of Organic Peroxyacid Antimicrobial Agents for Wound Care Using a Selective Plasma Oxidation Reactor
Award last edited on: 2/13/2018

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
NIH : NIGMS
Total Award Amount
$224,983
Award Phase
1
Solicitation Topic Code
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Principal Investigator
Jessica Joslin

Company Information

Symbios Technologies LLC (AKA: Symbios Technologies Inc)

3185 Rampart Road
Fort Collins, CO 80523
   (970) 492-4418
   justin@symbiostechnologies.com
   www.symbiosplasma.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 04
County: Larimer

Phase I

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase I year
2016
Phase I Amount
$224,983
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.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Because there is a great unmet need for new anti-infective products and scalable methods of manufacture, Symbios Technologies, Inc. is working in collaboration with its partner, CHD Bioscience, Inc., to develop a Selective Plasma Oxidation Reactor (SPOR) that can replace the current manufacturing platform for CHD’s antimicrobial and wound-healing product, VERIOX. The current VERIOX production method is severely limited by cost and safety issues, where the Symbios SPOR technology will enable production of commercially relevant volumes of VERIOX in a safe, continuous, and low-cost fashion (as supported by preliminary evidence). The VERIOX product, a proprietary blend of peroxyacid compounds, shows great efficacy against a wide range of microbial contaminants and is greatly promising as an anti-infective healthcare product; thus the ability to enable commercial readiness of VERIOX will represent a marked improvement in the healthcare space.

Project Terms:
Acids; Affect; Animals; Anti-Infective Agents; antimicrobial; antimicrobial drug; Antimicrobial Effect; Antimicrobial Resistance; Bacteria; Biological Assay; Biological Sciences; Caring; Chronic; chronic wound; Clinical; cold temperature; Collaborations; combat; commercialization; Communities; comparative; Contracts; cost; Cost Analysis; cost effective; design; Development; Disinfection; Economic Models; Economics; Electrodes; Evaluation; Exhibits; Feedback; Geometry; Healthcare; Hydrogen Peroxide; improved; In Situ; Infection; Injection of therapeutic agent; innovation; interest; Iron; Lead; Life; manufacturing process; Marketing; Medical; Methods; Microbe; microbial; Modeling; Nosocomial Infections; Oxidants; oxidation; Parents; Pathway interactions; Patients; Performance; Phase; Plague; Plasma; Prevalence; prevent; Process; Production; Pyruvic Acid; Reaction Time; Readiness; Reagent; Resistance; Safety; scale up; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; success; Surface; System; Technology; Temperature; Time; Work; wound; Wound Healing

Phase II

Contract Number: ----------
Start Date: ----    Completed: ----
Phase II year
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Phase II Amount
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