SAN DIEGO – Sequoia Sciences (Sequoia) and the Center for Biofilm Engineering (CBE) announced today the discovery of five novel compounds for the treatment of bacterial biofilms. This collaboration will continue in order to develop these compounds into therapeutic treatments and discover additional compounds that target chronic bacterial infections.

Discovered under a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), these novel compounds reduce the formation of bacterial biofilms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 65 percent of human infections involve biofilms. Biofilm infections are less susceptible to antibiotics and contribute to the increased occurrence of resistant strains of bacteria.

"It is now abundantly clear that many chronic infections are established and persist because the bacteria involved form biofilms that resistant host defenses and conventional antimicrobial agents," said Professor Bill Costerton, Director of the Center of Biofilm Engineering. "The most effective potential therapeutic strategy that emerges from this new biofilm concept is the use of chemical signals and signal inhibitors to control or reverse biofilm formation. Biofilm control signals are used by aquatic plants to control microbial fouling on their photosynthetic surfaces. Natural compounds these plants use have great potential in the effective control of biofilm formation (and chronic bacterial infection) in patients, in both medical and dental contexts."

"These initial discoveries may lead to treatments aimed at combating serious chronic infections," said Gary Eldridge, President and CEO of Sequoia. "Within the next six months, we anticipate that more than ten additional novel biofilm inhibitors will be discovered which increases the probability of identifying a strong candidate for pharmaceutical development."

The market for pharmaceutical drugs that inhibit biofilm formation exceeds $6 billion annually.

Sequoia Sciences, a San Diego-based drug discovery company founded in 1999, is focused on rapidly identifying novel, drug-like compounds from plants with potential therapeutic applications. By utilizing proprietary chemistry procedures and innovative technologies, Sequoia produces novel chemical compound libraries and rapidly identifies potential drug leads. Based on its current successes, Sequoia estimates discovering more than 100 compounds with novel chemical structures annually.

Center for Biofilm Engineering, was established in 1990 as a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center at Montana State University–Bozeman to foster a new approach to university engineering and science education. At the CBE, multidisciplinary research teams find solutions and applications for industrially relevant problems and potentials of microbial biofilm formation.