710124Re-engineering an innovative opthalmic anti-infective technology for use in oral care.ClosedGRD Proof of ConceptInnovate UKAi2 is a UK-based biotechnology company specializing in anti-infective peptide technology derived from the human protein Apolipoprotein E that combines potent efficacy with an excellent safety profile. This technology has been developed for application to contact lenses and lens care products with a license deal signed with Sauflon Pharmaceuticals to apply the technology to their products. Ai2 is now looking at re-engineering this technology for other applications with a high antimicrobial need and have identified oral care as a market that would benefit from this technology. Various oral microbes are associated with the formation of dental caries and gingivitis that result in poor dental health and may cause tooth loss. A good dental hygiene routine using oral care products, some of which make use of added antimicrobial agents, can reduce the risk of dental disease but these agents each have significant problems associated with their use including difficulties with formulation into products, safety concerns as well as concerns regarding their effect on the environment. A more effective agent is needed as despite widespread use of current technology dental disease is still a major worldwide problem. Ai2 believes that its anti-infective peptide technology has the potential to address all of the problems that current technology in oral care has but the feasibility of application of this technology to oral care products needs to be addressed. This project seeks to establish the feasibility of re-engineering Ai2’s technology to oral care applications and will examine the efficacy of a library of peptides against relevant organisms, their compatibility with both human tissue and oral care product ingredients and test lead peptide activity in a dental biofilm model. At the end of this project Ai2 will have a data portfolio demonstrating the feasibility of application of our peptide technology to oral care products with which to approach potential licensees.