Technologies

Fungal infections range in severity from common athlete’s foot to life-threatening illness. Treatment can be very expensive. The cost of treating systemicCandidayeast infections exceeds $31,000 per patient in the United States. This fungus is responsible for afflictions like diaper rash, vaginal yeast infection and oral thrush.
Finding new agents to fightCandidaand other fungal infections could be globally beneficial and profitable. UW–Madison researchers have developed antifungal compounds isolated fromActinomadura, a bacterium found in a species of sea squirt. After extensive chemical isolation and characterization, the researchers identified a new class of compounds called ‘Forazolines’ that possess antifungal activity. Forazoline A was shown to be effective againstCandida albicansin a mouse model.

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is seeking commercial partners interested in developing compounds isolated from a sea squirt bacterium that could be effective againstCandidaand other fungi.