Australia’s first Antimicrobial Resistance Network forms to combat global health threat

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Botanix welcomes, wholeheartedly, today’s news from MTPConnect announcing the formation of an Australian-first network to address the impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on human health.

The Australian Antimicrobial Resistance network – AAMRNet – was launched in response to urgent recommendations in a new report by MTPConnect, ‘Fighting Superbugs: A Report on the Inaugural Meeting of Australia’s Antimicrobial Resistance Stakeholders’.

Professor Geoffrey Coombs, member of the AAMRNet Steering Committee and President of the Australian Society for Antimicrobials, is involved in our BTX 1801 clinical study in Perth. We are fortunate to be collaborating with leaders in this sector to examine the full potential of our platform AMR product.

Addressing the impact of AMR is a foremost priority for our business. We look forward to supporting this network and contributing valuable clinical data to our combined efforts to address what is one of the most significant, pressing threats to global health.

Read more from MTPConnect here.

‘Superbugs’ a far greater risk than Covid in the Pacific, scientist warns

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The emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), including drug-resistant bacteria, or “superbugs”, pose far greater risks to human health than Covid-19, threatening to put modern medicine “back into the dark ages”, an Australian scientist has warned, ahead of a three-year study into drug-resistant bacteria in Fiji.

“If you thought Covid was bad, you don’t want anti-microbial resistance,” Dr Paul De Barro, biosecurity research director at Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, told The Guardian.

Read the full article on The Guardian here.

Experts Say Humans Are Living in an ‘Age of Pandemics’—and COVID Won’t Be the Last

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Experts have warned that the COVID-19 pandemic might just be one in a series of increasingly frequent viral outbreaks, as the human species enters what they describe as “a pandemic era”.

Anthony Fauci, leading US immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and David Morens, a medical epidemiologist at NIAID, predict that widespread outbreaks of diseases and epidemics will only accelerate over the coming years as populations grow, societies expand and deforestation increases.

Read the full article on Vice here.

Botanix makes progress on cannabinoid antimicrobial gel

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‘After colonising the skin explants with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the “Human Skin Study” found that BTX 1801 successfully eliminated the so-called superbug within 24 hours.’

Read the full article on Stockhead here. 

Botanix’s BTX 1801 proven to kill superbugs

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Cannabinoid skincare company Botanix (BOT) has proven its BTX 1801 compound’s ability to treat and prevent surgical site infections (SSIs).

‘The company has released encouraging results from a study testing the formulation’s ability to eliminate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus — known as MRSA or Golden Staph — from infected human skin explants.

Read the full article on The Market Herald here.

New antimicrobial data and conference presentation

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Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT) has today shared a market update and new data pertaining to the BTX 1801 antimicrobial program, which is currently being studied as part of a Phase 2a clinical trial in Perth.  

The new data demonstrates BTX 1801 eliminates methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (‘MRSA’ or ‘Golden Staph’) from human skin explants infected with MRSA. It also confirms synthetic CBD’s novel mechanism of action, where treatment with CBD rapidly disrupts the bacteria’s membrane resulting in cell death.

The latest news was captured as part of a presentation shared by Botanix President and Executive Chairman, Vince Ippolito, for the ASX Small and Mid-Cap Conference today – which features a close-up look at the mechanism of action.

View the ASX Small & Mid-Cap Conference presentation:

The Botanix team is extremely encouraged by this new data and remains confident that BTX 1801 will be a valuable treatment option for the prevention of post-surgical infections, which are often serious and can be life-threatening. Addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a foremost priority for the Company, alongside the  largest health agencies in the world.

NEW DATA | Time lapse videos – S.aureus treated with synthetic cannabidiol

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Botanix Pharmaceuticals released promising new clinical data for its BTX 1801 antimicrobial platform and a supporting presentation today.

The results demonstrate how synthetic cannabidiol kills resistant bacteria quickly and effectively – specifically Staphylococcus aureus (‘S.aureus’  or‘MRSA’ or ‘Golden Staph’), which greatly increases the risks of serious and life-threatening infections following surgery when it is carried in the nasal passage.

The following time-lapse videos clearly show how synthetic cannabidiol kills bacteria by rapidly disrupting the bacterial cytoplasmic membranes in as little as 10 minutes. In both videos, the bacteria are initially surrounded by a green fluorescent dye and exclusion of the dye means the bacteria are alive and well, while uptake of the dye means that the bacteria’s cell membrane has been disrupted and they are dying.

Time lapse video – S.aureus treated with methanol

This time lapse video shows S.aureus treated with 2.5% methanol (negative control) and grown at room temperature on an agarose pad containing 0.25µM SYTOX-Green. Bacteria are happy and rapidly multiplying over the 120 minutes, with no uptake of the dye.

Time lapse video – S.aureus treated with synthetic cannabidiol

This time lapse video shows S.aureus treated with with synthetic cannabidiol and grown at room temperature on an agarose pad containing 0.25µM SYTOX-Green. In contrast to the first video, bacteria immediately start to die, as evidenced by the rapid uptake of dye and disintegration of bacteria.

To learn more about our ongoing clinical research in the area of antimicrobial resistance, please subscribe to receive our latest news HERE.

The marketplace for new antibiotics is fundamentally broken

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One of the mysteries of COVID-19 is why it kills some patients while sparing others with similar health profiles.

The answer to this will not prove singular, of course. But research published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet found that 50% of hospitalized patients who died of COVID-19 also had secondary bacterial infections. Some patients contracted these fatal infections from the very intensive care unit (ICU) ventilators that were intended to save them.

Read the full opinion editorial – written by President and CEO of Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – on The Inquirer here.

Drug study will use synthetic cannabidiol to fight antimicrobial resistance

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Addressing antimicrobial resistance is a pressing priority for the largest health agencies in the world, so Botanix is optimistic in its efforts to proactively navigate these challenges.

Recruitment has today commenced in Perth for a Phase 2a study of Botanix’s antimicrobial platform product BTX 1801 to evaluate its safety, tolerability and efficacy for the prevention of surgical site infections.

The Phase 2a clinical study has been designed to evaluate two formulations of BTX 1801 to decolonise Staphylococcus aureus (Staph) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA or ‘Golden Staph’) from the nose of healthy adults. Nasal carriage of Staph and/or MRSA greatly increases the risks of serious and sometimes life-threatening infections following surgery, as patients essentially infect themselves. 

Botanix is working with a team of specialist clinical investigators, led by Murdoch University’s Chair of Public Health and Chair of the Australia Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, Professor Geoffrey Coombs. 

Read the Murdoch University news article here.

Could Drug-Resistant Bacteria Cause The Next Pandemic?

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As humanity tallies the growing cost of Covid-19 in lives and capital, it must address the Grey Rhino threats posed by pathogenic bacteria. These are probable and impactful, but we neglect them despite their obviousness. Aided by modern humans’ mobility and by climate change, bacterial pathogens endanger everyone’s health. They are legion, varied, and constantly mutating. How can we best combat them?

Click HERE to read the article on Forbes.