Anti-adhesive Biopolymer Coating

A naturally produced polymer by a marine bacterium was used to develop a coating with anti-adhesive properties that impair bacterial adhesion/biofilm formation and that can be applied to a wide variety of materials. The polymer is produced in high amounts by a bacterium that is among the highly efficient polymer producers and secrets it directly to the culture medium, allowing an easy and efficient recovery with few purification steps, making this polymer a cost-effective product. It was already demonstrated that an ultrathin coating of this polymer significantly reduce the amount of Staphylococcus epidermidis bound to surfaces, even in the presence of plasma proteins. At this moment, the proof of concept is being performed to apply this coating technology to catheters, namely urinary and vascular, as preliminary assays with platelets revealed very low platelet adhesion and non-activation, which is correlated with non-thrombogenic features. Nevertheless, we are also interested in extending the application of this coating to other catheters as well as to other devices and surfaces.

Microbial anti-adhesive coating and that can be easily applied to different type of materials/surfaces prone to bacterial attachment and proliferation. Examples:

- Health sector: vascular and urinary catheters, surgical drains, endotracheal and nasogastric tubes, etc;

- Agri-food sector: formulation of food packaging, water treatments, etc;

- Cosmetic sector: personal care products, etc.

Intellectual property status

Granted Patent

Patent number : P448.7

Where :

Current development status

Experimental technologies

Desired business relationship

Technology selling

Patent licensing

Joint ventures

Technology development

New technology applications

Adaptation of technology to other markets