Spire Receives NIH Grant to Develop Antimicrobial Selenium Coatings for Dialysis Catheters.Co Company to Develop New Generation of Active, Antimicrobial Coatings to Reduce Infections Co Compliments Spire's Decathlon[TM] Gold Antithrombotic, Heparin-Coated Dialysis Catheter BEDFORD, Mass. -- Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR SPIR Symmetric Private Information Retrieval SPIR Spectroscopie Dans le Proche Infrarouge (French: Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy) SPIR Spare Parts List and Interchangeability Record ) today announced the receipt of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR SBIR Small Business Innovation Research (program/grant) SBIR Space Based Infra-Red SBIR Speaker-Boundary Interference SBIR Site Backsurface-referenced Ideal Plane/Range (silicon wafers) ) Phase I grant for $176,244 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases About NIDDK The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, conducts and supports research on many of the most serious diseases affecting public health. , National Institutes of Health (NIH "Not invented here." See digispeak. NIH - The United States National Institutes of Health. ), to develop selenium-coated dialysis catheters. The coatings are intended to prevent bacterial attachment and colonization that can ultimately lead to biofilm Biofilm An adhesive substance, the glycocalyx, and the bacterial community which it envelops at the interface of a liquid and a surface. When a liquid is in contact with an inert surface, any bacteria within the liquid are attracted to the surface and adhere formation and device-centered infection. Infection is currently a major problem affecting function and longevity of dialysis catheters. Catheter-related sepsis occurs at alarmingly high rates, and often necessitates intervention or catheter removal. This grant will permit Spire to develop a new generation of antimicrobial coatings for these devices. Mark Little, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Spire Biomedical, Inc., stated, "Selenium selenium (səlē`nēəm), nonmetallic chemical element; symbol Se; at. no. 34; at. wt. 78.96; m.p. 217°C;; b.p. about 685°C;; sp. gr. 4.81 at 20°C;; valence −2, +4, or +6. , which is an essential dietary requirement, acts catalytically to produce superoxide superoxide /su·per·ox·ide/ (-ok´sid) any compound containing the highly reactive and extremely toxic oxygen radical O2-, a common intermediate in numerous biological oxidations. su·per·ox·ide n. radicals that disrupt bacterial cells. Since it acts catalytically, the coating will remain on the surface and be active permanently, unlike conventional eluting coatings that are often gone within 30 days and that can elicit deleterious systemic effects. The selenium coating may provide significant benefits to dialysis patients by preserving access and reducing secondary complications resulting from infected catheters. Ultimately, the technology could be used to augment Spire's growing line of dialysis catheters." ABOUT SPIRE CORPORATION Spire Corporation is a diversified technology company providing innovative biomedical devices, advanced medical device surface treatment processes, optoelectronic devices, and solar energy products, all based upon a common technology platform. For more information visit www.spirecorp.com. Certain matters described in this news release may be forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk of dependence on market growth, competition and dependence on government agencies and other third parties for funding contract research and services, as well as other factors described in the Company's Form 10-KSB filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
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