£100,000 of funding has been awarded to a Newcastle-based life sciences company, to accelerate development of a ground-breaking new treatment for wounds which could improve the lives of millions of people each year. The team at LightOx has created a light-activated treatment designed to destroy bacteria which can prevent wounds from healing normally. Innovate UK funding as part of the Biomedical Catalyst will now allow LightOx to carry out a feasibility study, taking an important step towards bringing the new treatment to market. Dr Sam Whitehouse, CEO of LightOx, explained: “Every year, the NHS treats millions of people with wounds, including chronic wounds which fail to heal normally. These chronic wounds, as well as causing dangerous complications like sepsis and amputation, are expensive to treat, with costs amounting to billions of pounds annually. “As more bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, it’s crucial that we develop new and better treatment options and this funding brings us one step closer to making our light-activated treatment available to clinicians and patients worldwide.” Currently, This new treatment, called LXD231, not only destroys antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA, but also enables bacteria to not become resistant to it. LXD231 takes the form of a gel which…
