QuoNova - positive early-stage results in wound healing and key patents have been allowed

11 December 2007

XL TechGroup (AIM: XLT), the creator of companies that solve identified, global unmet market needs, is pleased to advise that its 90% owned company QuoNova LLC has achieved an important, early-stage milestone in the development of a new treatment for wound-related bacterial infections.  QuoNova has also had two key patents allowed by the US Patent Office and is currently ahead of schedule in relation to the commercialisation plans for its paradigm-shifting approach to fighting the effects of bacteria. 

QuoNova was founded in December 2006 and is the fifth portfolio company of XL TechGroup.  QuoNova produces safe, efficacious agents in the global fight against infection and damage caused by microbial biofilms.  QuoNova's business strategy is to develop and commercialize its proprietary Quorum Sensing Blocker (“QSB”) platform and introduce a disruptive paradigm of “smart microbial control”.  QuoNova is targeting multiple multi-billion dollar markets including therapeutics, medical devices, consumer care, agriculture and several industrial applications.

Micro-organisms use chemical signal molecules to communicate and recognize population density (Quorum Sensing) in order to organize their social behaviour, and co-ordinate the production of virulence factors, such as the release of toxins and biofilm formation.  Biofilms are complex matrices produced by colonies of micro-organisms, and are very difficult to eradicate as they protect themselves against the immune system or conventional treatments such as antibiotics or biocides.  In the healthcare environment they contribute significantly to complications in lung disease and wound healing, to medical device-associated infections as well as to dental plaque and contact lens-associated infection.  In the home and in industrial processes they are a major cause of contamination, corrosion and efficiency reductions.

QuoNova's QSB technology disrupts microbial communication systems and by so doing inhibits toxin production, prevents biofilm formation and promotes degradation of already established biofilms.  Moreover, research to date indicates that QuoNova's QSB compounds are non-toxic and safe.  QSB molecules do not kill micro-organisms, but instead influence their life style to maintain or return them to a state where they can be removed by intrinsic control mechanisms such as the immune system or by treatments much less aggressive than those currently available.  This should significantly reduce or eliminate the processes that lead to the development of drug resistant organisms, and differentiates QSBs substantially from conventional antimicrobial approaches.  QSB molecules will therefore initiate a new era in preventing the effects of microbial colonization, capable of overcoming the decreasing effectiveness of conventional treatments against biofilms and multi-resistant pathogens such as MRSA.

In collaboration with a leading university, QuoNova has generated initial animal model data demonstrating that colonisation of secondary burn wounds with clinically relevant bacteria is significantly reduced by application of its proprietary QSBs.  Moreover, a marked synergy with silver sulfadiazine, a commonly used antibacterial preparation, has been observed.  These promising early-stage results indicate that QSBs could offer a new, efficacious approach to supplement clinical means of improving wound healing.  They also form the basis for progression into regulatory trials during 2008 as well as the basis for further patent filings.

QuoNova's allowed patents cover composition of matter rights for key small molecule compounds used as QSB agents, which prevent the pathogenicity and deleterious effects, including biofilm formation, of micro-organisms in multiple situations from human health to industrial processes.  QuoNova is continuing to strengthen the IP portfolio supporting its QSB platform with a series of pending applications that cover a variety of chemical compound classes demonstrating QSB activity, and methods of use for these compounds.  This notice of allowance is the first of a series forming the foundation for the successful future commercialization of the QSB platform and bolsters QuoNova's ability to secure strong partnerships with industry leaders in the many sectors where the technology will find application.

John Scott, CEO of XL TechGroup, commented: “QuoNova's platform QSB technology is already producing positive early-stage results in wound care treatment and we are pleased with the progress towards commercialization they are already demonstrating.  In addition, it is vital to build a solid patent portfolio in any game-changing technology, and the notice of patent allowance represents a validation of novelty and innovation for QuoNova's disruptive technology and forms the basis to convert this novel approach into products of significant commercial value in areas with high unmet needs.”

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