Tag Archives: bacterial biofilm

Collaborative research agreement (CRA) with McMaster University (Canada) for development of catheter coating

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I don’t always do as good a job at covering the commercialization of emerging technologies as I’d like, so, this December 13, 2023 news item on Yahoo News was a welcome discovery,

Oakville, Ontario–(Newsfile Corp. – December 13, 2023) – FendX Technologies Inc. (CSE: FNDX) (OTCQB: FDXTF) (FSE: E8D) (the “Company” or “FendX“), a nanotechnology company developing surface protection coatings is pleased to announce it has entered into a Collaborative Research Agreement (“CRA“) dated December 12, 2023 with McMaster University (“McMaster“) which details the research and development plan to create a protective catheter coating using our nanotechnology licensed pursuant to the license agreement dated February 5, 2021, as amended, between the Company and McMaster.

Dr. Carolyn Myers, President and CEO of FendX, stated, “We are excited about the prospect of developing a coating for catheters using our nanotechnology which we believe will reduce catheter blockage caused by either blood clots or bacterial biofilms. Early work conducted at McMaster has demonstrated significant reduction in the adherence of both bacteria and blood which could potentially translate to reduced bacterial biofilm or blood clot formation. [emphasis mine] Our aim is to further this research to tackle the medical need to reduce catheter blockage rates, which can be costly and interfere with patient therapy. We anticipate the development of this coating formulation will also strengthen our overall intellectual property portfolio.”

The CRA outlines more fully the research and development work to be conducted by McMaster on behalf of FendX as well as a payment schedule for the maximum research funding requirements. The term of the CRA is for 24 months commencing on the effective date of December 1, 2023, unless terminated in accordance with the provisions of the CRA. In the first and second year, maximum research funding to McMaster will be $150,547 each year.

About FendX Technologies Inc.

FendX is a Canada-based nanotechnology company focused on developing products to make people’s lives safer by reducing the spread of pathogens. The Company is developing both film and spray products to protect surfaces from contamination. The lead product under development, REPELWRAP™ film, is a protective surface coating film that, due to its repelling properties, prevents the adhesion of pathogens and reduces their transmission on surfaces prone to contamination. The spray nanotechnology is a bifunctional spray coating being developed to reduce contamination on surfaces by repelling and killing pathogens. The Company is conducting research and development activities using its nanotechnology in collaboration with industry-leading partners, including McMaster University. The Company has an exclusive worldwide license to its technology and IP portfolio from McMaster, which encompass both film and spray coating nanotechnology formulations.

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For more information, please visit https://fendxtech.com/ and the Company’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including with respect to: the plans of the Company; statements regarding the catheter coating development and anticipated benefits; the Company’s belief that the catheter coating could reduce catheter occlusions caused by either blood clots or bacterial biofilms; statements regarding strengthening the Company’s overall intellectual property portfolio; the Company’s belief that REPELWRAP™ will have applications in healthcare settings and other industries; and products under development and any pathogen reduction benefits related thereto. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “projects,” “aims,” “potential,” “goal,” “objective,” “prospective,” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will,” “would,” “may,” “can,” “could” or “should” occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made and involve several risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and that actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Important factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include: product candidates only being in formulation/reformulation stages; limited operating history; research and development activities; dependence on collaborative partners, licensors and others; effect of general economic and political conditions; and other risk factors set forth in the Company’s public filings which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Accordingly, the reader is urged to refer to the Company’s such filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors should change.

FendX offers next to no information about their technology or the proposed work with McMaster as seen in this excerpt from the Our Technology webpage on the FendX website,

Our patent-pending licensed nanotechnology works by combining a hierarchical wrinkled molecular structure with chemical functionalization to create nano-surfaces with repelling properties that prevent adhesion of bacteria, viruses and liquids.

Inspired by the water-resistant surface of the lotus leaf

Our nanotechnology causes both high surface tension (e.g., water) and low surface tension (e.g., oil) liquids to form droplets when they come in contact with the nano-surface.

The repelling properties of our nano-surfaces prevents adhesion of bacteria and viruses.

We believe our technology will have numerous applications and opportunities in healthcare and other industries.

That’s it. No technical details and not a single research study is cited.

While McMaster University doesn’t seem to have issued any news releases about their joint research effort with FendX, there are two research papers that I’m reasonably confident are relevant. From the Didar Lab Publications webpage, here are links and citation for both papers,

An omniphobic lubricant-infused coating produced by chemical vapor deposition of hydrophobic organosilanes attenuates clotting on catheter surfaces by Maryam Badv, Iqbal H. Jaffer, Jeffrey I. Weitz & Tohid F. Didar. Scientific Reports volume 7, Article number: 11639 (2017) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-12149-1 Published: 14 September 2017

This paper is open access.

Highly Stable Hierarchically Structured All-Polymeric Lubricant-Infused Films Prevent Thrombosis and Repel Multidrug-Resistant Pathogens by Elisabet Afonso, Fereshteh Bayat, Liane Ladouceur, Shadman Khan, Aránzazu Martínez-Gómez, Jeffrey I. Weitz, Zeinab Hosseinidoust, Pilar Tiemblo, Nuria García, and Tohid F. Didar. CS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2022, 14, 48, 53535–53545 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c17309 Publication Date: November 22, 2022 Copyright © 2022 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.

Nanocoating to reduce dental implant failures

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Scientists at Plymouth University (UK) have developed a nanocoating that could reduce the number of dental implant failures. From a March 24, 2017 news item on Nanowerk (Note: A link has been removed),

According to the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID), 15 million Americans have crown or bridge replacements and three million have dental implants — with this latter number rising by 500,000 a year. The AAID estimates that the value of the American and European market for dental implants will rise to $4.2 billion by 2022.

Dental implants are a successful form of treatment for patients, yet according to a study published in 2005, five to 10 per cent of all dental implants fail.

The reasons for this failure are several-fold – mechanical problems, poor connection to the bones in which they are implanted, infection or rejection. When failure occurs the dental implant must be removed.

The main reason for dental implant failure is peri-implantitis. This is the destructive inflammatory process affecting the soft and hard tissues surrounding dental implants. This occurs when pathogenic microbes in the mouth and oral cavity develop into biofilms, which protects them and encourages growth. Peri-implantitis is caused when the biofilms develop on dental implants.

A research team comprising scientists from the School of Biological Sciences, Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and the School of Engineering at the University of Plymouth, have joined forces to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a new nanocoating for dental implants to reduce the risk of peri-implantitis.

The results of their work are published in the journal Nanotoxicology (“Antibacterial activity and biofilm inhibition by surface modified titanium alloy medical implants following application of silver, titanium dioxide and hydroxyapatite nanocoatings”).

A March 27, 2017 Plymouth University press release, which originated the news item, gives more details about the research,

In the study, the research team created a new approach using a combination of silver, titanium oxide and hydroxyapatite nanocoatings.

The application of the combination to the surface of titanium alloy implants successfully inhibited bacterial growth and reduced the formation of bacterial biofilm on the surface of the implants by 97.5 per cent.

Not only did the combination result in the effective eradication of infection, it created a surface with anti-biofilm properties which supported successful integration into surrounding bone and accelerated bone healing.

Professor Christopher Tredwin, Head of Plymouth University Peninsula School of Dentistry, commented:

“In this cross-Faculty study we have identified the means to protect dental implants against the most common cause of their failure. The potential of our work for increased patient comfort and satisfaction, and reduced costs, is great and we look forward to translating our findings into clinical practice.”

The University of Plymouth was the first university in the UK to secure Research Council Funding in Nanoscience and this project is the latest in a long line of projects investigating nanotechnology and human health.

Nanoscience activity at the University of Plymouth is led by Professor Richard Handy, who has represented the UK on matters relating to the Environmental Safety and Human Health of Nanomaterials at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He commented:

“As yet there are no nano-specific guidelines in dental or medical implant legislation and we are, with colleagues elsewhere, guiding the way in this area. The EU recognises that medical devices and implants must: perform as expected for its intended use, and be better than similar items in the market; be safe for the intended use or safer than an existing item, and; be biocompatible or have negligible toxicity.”

He added:

“Our work has been about proving these criteria which we have done in vitro. The next step would be to demonstrate the effectiveness of our discovery, perhaps with animal models and then human volunteers.”

Dr Alexandros Besinis, Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the School of Engineering, University of Plymouth, led the research team. He commented:

“Current strategies to render the surface of dental implants antibacterial with the aim to prevent infection and peri-implantitis development, include application of antimicrobial coatings loaded with antibiotics or chlorhexidine. However, such approaches are usually effective only in the short-term, and the use of chlorhexidine has also been reported to be toxic to human cells. The significance of our new study is that we have successfully applied a dual-layered silver-hydroxyapatite nanocoating to titanium alloy medical implants which helps to overcome these risks.”

Dr Besinis has been an Honorary Teaching Fellow at the Peninsula School of Dentistry since 2011 and has recently joined the School of Engineering. His research interests focus on advanced engineering materials and the use of nanotechnology to build novel biomaterials and medical implants with improved mechanical, physical and antibacterial properties.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Antibacterial activity and biofilm inhibition by surface modified titanium alloy medical implants following application of silver, titanium dioxide and hydroxyapatite nanocoatings by A. Besinis, S. D. Hadi, H. R. Le, C. Tredwin & R. D. Handy.  Nanotoxicology Volume 11, 2017 – Issue 3  Pages 327-338  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17435390.2017.1299890 Published online: 17 Mar 2017

This paper appears to be open access.