NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. presented a poster at the 2011 Conference of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) held this week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The poster was prepared by researchers from NovaBay Pharmaceuticals and Kathryn Najafi, MD, Ophthalmologist of Eye Institute of Marin in San Rafael, California and titled “Aganocide Compounds Effective Against Ophthalmic Pathogens.”
Similar to NovaBay’s lead anti-infective Aganocide compound, NVC-422, these new compounds, NVC-727, NVC-638, and NVC-704 are broad-spectrum, fast-acting antimicrobial agents with the same mechanism of action.
However, they possess unique differentiating activity profiles. In this poster, NVC-727 was effective against adenovirus and HSV-1 with a good activity against S. aureus, and E. coli. NVC-727 showed fast time-kill in 10% synthetic tears and human donor tears at pH 7 against S. aureus and HSV-1. NVC-638 and NVC-704 are novel structural series with good antibacterial and antiviral ( HAdV-5) and (HSV-1) activity at pH 4.
Mark Anderson, PhD, NovaBay’s Chief Scientific Officer, stated, “NVC-727, NVC-638, and NVC-704 are very exciting new molecules in our growing portfolio of broad-spectrum, fast-acting, Aganocide compounds.
These compounds also provide an opportunity to treat other unmet medical needs in dermatology, urology and wound care without development of resistance. In ophthalmology, we are uniquely positioned to develop an eye drop that will treat both bacterial and viral causes of conjunctivitis including epidemic keratoconjunctivitis also known as EKC.”
Multiple ocular pathogens are responsible for conjunctivitis (pink eye). These include bacterial infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus and Haemophilus influenza and viral infections caused by the herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), and human adenoviruses (HAdV). Some HAdV serotypes result in inflammation of the conjunctiva (the thin, transparent tissue that covers the outer surface of the eye). Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) is a severe and highly contagious eye infection which can lead to severe visual impairment. EKC induces inflammation of both the cornea and the conjunctiva resulting in mild to severe cases of blurred vision and subepithelial infiltrates (white lesions on the corneal surface). The inflammation on the cornea and subepithelial infiltrates can reduce the patient’s vision and often cause photophobia (light sensitivity) for weeks to months post-infection. Patients presenting with viral or bacterial conjunctivitis are often difficult to quickly differentiate by eye care professionals thereby requiring additional tests to identify the causative pathogen. Furthermore, there are no therapies approved for adenoviral conjunctivitis by the US FDA or anywhere else in the world.
Date: May 6, 2011
Source: NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
