21 Jan Nerites receives $100K grant to study bacteria prevention
Madison, Wis. – Urinary stents and catheters can be life-saving medical devices, but 40 percent of patients end up with bacterial infections. The promise of a new technology for preventing these potentially dangerous infections has convinced the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health to award the Madison-based Nerites Corp. with a $100,000 small business innovation research (SBIR) grant.
With 100 million stents and catheters placed in patients each year, doctors must treat 40 million device-associated infections annually. With the grant, Nerites will study whether its polymer coatings can prevent biofilm growth, the source of most infections on urinary stents and catheters.
The biofilms grow on the surface of the device and provide an anchor for bacteria, which then recruit other bacteria and cause infection, and current prevention methods are either expensive or ineffective to the point of promoting antibiotic resistance.
Nerites, founded in 2004, develops biologically-compatible adhesives that provide new options for tissue repair, skin adhesives, and device coatings.
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