Technologies

Whitehead Intellectual Property Office is seeking a licensee for Novel Therapeutic Strategies to Combat Bacterial Biofilm Assemblies. Biofilm infections account for several billion dollars in health care costs every year. To establish successful infection, bacteria encase themselves into a complex, polymeric biofilm that aids adhesion and renders them impregnable to the host defenses and a broad spectrum of antimicrobial agents. Medical device-related infections associated with biofilms that are formed in catheter tubing, coronary stents, joint prostheses, intraocular lens and other implanted devices also fit this profile of repeated infections and typically require surgical removal of the device, despite appropriate therapy. Scientists in the laboratory of Dr. Susan Lindquist have identified crucial nucleating sequences which facilitate bacterial biofilm assembly using peptide array technology.