New Weapons in the Fight Against MRSA

Researchers have modified the naturally occurring broad-spectrum antibiotic N-chlorotaurine to give it long term stability at room temperature, a key requirement for a topical pharmaceutical product. The new drugs have been trademarked as Aganocides, and are touted as a new generation of weapons in the fight against deadly pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Investigators at NovaBay Pharmaceuticals (Emeryville, CA, USA) started with N-chlorotaurine backbone and then replaced two hydrogen atoms on the carbon adjacent to the nitrogen with methyl groups and added another chlorine onto the nitrogen for potency. The resulting compound N,N-dichloro-2,2-dimethyltaurine (DCDMT, also known as NVC-422) proved to be stable for more than four months at room temperature. The starting material, N-chlorotaurine, was stable for only about 50 days. These findings were published in the February 2008 issue of the journal Tetrahedron Letters.

The investigators have shown that NVC-422 was active in vitro against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, yeasts, and viruses. Since NVC-422 destroyed pathogens on contact and not through typical antibiotic mechanisms, bacteria and viruses will be unlikely to develop resistance.

In addition to its own clinical development program, NovaBay has entered into licensing and research collaboration agreements with Alcon, Inc. (Hünenberg, CZ) for testing Aganocide compounds in eye, ear, and sinus infections and in contact lens care solutions.

"This is a very exciting accomplishment for NovaBay,” said Dr. Ron Najafi, senior author and CEO of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals. "We are proud of the progress we have made in our research and clinical development of Aganocide compounds and are dedicated to continued advancement in these areas. This is part of a series of papers highlighting the work we have accomplished on antimicrobial agents. We continue to endeavor to find ways to use these antimicrobials against a number of indications to help improve people's health and ultimately save lives.”


Related Links:
NovaBay Pharmaceuticals
Alcon