Helix BioMedix files patent application for antimicrobial hexapeptides

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Feb. 14 - Helix BioMedix Inc. has filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a new class of small molecule antimicrobial hexapeptides, according to a company news release.

"The filing of a patent for this new class of small molecule hexapeptides is one of our key milestones for 2006," president and chief executive officer R. Stephen Beatty said in the release.

"While antimicrobial agents have been around for decades, there has been a growing need for new ways to treat an increasing number of drug-resistant bacterial, viral and fungal infections. The challenge with peptide-based antimicrobial drug development has always been to retain antimicrobial activity while reducing size and charge.

"As evidenced by this patent filing, we believe we have the potential to create a new generation of small molecule peptide anti-microbials that are stable and active in biological environments, have low toxicity and are cost-effective to manufacture."

The patent application covers a class of hexapeptide that has exhibited antibacterial and antifungal properties against a variety of pathogens including multiply-resistant gram-positive bacteria, Candida species such as C. albicans, C.tropicalis and C.glabrata and dermatophytes such as Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes.

Helix BioMedix said that the antimicrobial activity exhibited by the hexapeptides is maintained in serum and can be formulated into a number of carrier vehicles, such as sprays, aerosols and water and oil-type emulsions, and may provide favorable features for development as dermatological therapeutics.

During a recent animal study, the HB1148 hexapeptide reduced a S. aureus wound infection in each rat treated and completely eliminated infection in 50% of animals after three treatments, according to the release.

In the second study, which looked at the topical treatment of dermatophytosis in a guinea pig model infected with T. mentagrophtes, hexapeptides HB0666 and HB1032 exhibited significant efficacy, which the company said it measured through the number and severity of lesion that each animal developed.

Helix BioMedix is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company based in Bothell, Wash., that develops bioactive peptides for use in oral care, in pharmaceutical applications such as anti-infectives and wound healing and in consumer markets such as acne, skin care, wrinkle reduction and deodorants.

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