Provectus Biopharmaceuticals announces exclusive license option agreement with University of Miami

Provectus Biopharmaceuticals today announced it has entered into an option agreement with the University of Miami (UM) for an exclusive worldwide license of intellectual property developed by the Ophthalmic Biophysics Center (OBC) of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (BPEI), which is part of the UM Health System, for the use of OBC’s photodynamic antimicrobial therapy (PDAT) medical device in combination with Provectus’ proprietary pharmaceutical-grade rose bengal for the treatment of bacterial, fungal, and viral infections of the eye.

According to a news release, the company also initiated a sponsored research program with OBC to investigate Provectus’ rose bengal for the treatment of infectious keratitis.

Established in 1970 by BPEI founding director Edward W.D. Norton, MD, and Jean-Marie Parel, IngETS-G, PhD, FARVO, OBC performs translational eye care research in all areas of ophthalmology, from the retina and vitreous to the cornea, glaucoma, cataracts, neuro-ophthalmology, and ocular oncology. According to the news release, OBC has developed more than 350 surgical instruments and clinical devices to date.

Dominic Rodrigues, the company’s vice chairman of its Board of Directors noted in the news release that the company is pleased to advance its collaboration with OBC director Parel, Guillermo Amescua, MD, a board-certified ophthalmologist and director of Bascom Palmer’s Ocular Surface Center, and the entire OBC team to now include this important option-to-license step.

“OBC’s innovative and comprehensive work on rose bengal PDAT has, among other things, shown in vitro activity against multiple etiologies of microbial keratitis,^1,2,3,4,5 including drug-resistant strains,^3,6 established in vivo safety⁷ demonstrated in vitrosuperiority over riboflavin PDAT^8,9 and achieved clinical proof-of-concept for the treatment of infectious keratitis.^10,11”

“OBC’s clinical work in ophthalmology, Provectus’ clinical trials in oncology and dermatology, and the Company’s wide-ranging preclinical work in hematology, infectious diseases, animal health, tissue regeneration and repair, and other disease areas support a key component of Provectus’ business strategy, which is to demonstrate the broad spectrum therapeutic platform potential of the company’s proprietary pharmaceutical-grade halogenated xanthene small molecule rose Bengal,” Rodrigues said.

References

1. Arboleda A, Miller D, Cabot F, et al. Assessment of rose bengal versus riboflavin photodynamic therapy for inhibition of fungal keratitis isolates. Am JOphthalmol. 2014;158:64–70.
2. Durkee H, Arboleda A, Aguilar MC, et al. Rose bengal photodynamic antimicrobial therapy to inhibit Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis isolates. Lasers Med Sci. 2019;35:861–866.
3. Halili F, Arboleda A, Durkee H, et al. Rose bengaland riboflavin-mediated photodynamic therapy to inhibit methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus keratitis isolates. Am JOphthalmol. 2016;166:194–202.
4. Schrier A, Greebel G, Attia H, Trokel S, Smith EF. In vitro antimicrobial efficacy of riboflavin and ultraviolet light on Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. J Refract Surg. 2009;25:S799–S802.
5. Naranjo A, Pelaez D, Arrieta E, et al. Cellular and molecular assessment of rose bengal photodynamic antimicrobial therapy on keratocytes, corneal endothelium and limbal stem cell niche. Exp Eye Res.2019;188:107808.
6. Amescua G, Arboleda A, Nikpoor N, et al. Rose rengal photodynamic antimicrobial therapy: a novel treatment for resistant Fusarium keratitis. Cornea. 2017;36:1141–1144.
7. Martinez JD, Arrieta E, Naranjo A, Monsalve P, Mintz KJ, Peterson J, Arboleda A, Durkee H, Aguilar MC, Pelaez D, Dubovy SR, Miller D, Leblanc R, Amescua G, Parel JM. Rose Bengal Photodynamic Antimicrobial Therapy: A Pilot Safety Study. Cornea. 2021 Aug 1;40(8):1036-1043.
8. Arboleda A, Miller D, Cabot F, Taneja M, Aguilar MC, Alawa K, Amescua G, Yoo SH, Parel JM. Assessment of rose bengal versus riboflavin photodynamic therapy for inhibition of fungal keratitis isolates. Am JOphthalmol. 2014 Jul;158(1):64-70.e2.
9. Adre E, Durkee H, Arboleda A, Alawa K, Maestre J, Mintz KJ, Leblanc RM, Amescua G, Parel JM, Miller D. Rose Bengal and Riboflavin Mediated Photodynamic Antimicrobial Therapy Against Selected South Florida Nocardia Keratitis Isolates. TranslVis Sci Technol. 2022 Jan 3;11(1):29.
10. Naranjo A, Arboleda A, Martinez JD, Durkee H, Aguilar MC, Relhan N, Nikpoor N, Galor A, Dubovy SR, Leblanc R, Flynn HW Jr, Miller D, Parel JM, Amescua G. Rose Bengal Photodynamic Antimicrobial Therapy for Patients With Progressive Infectious Keratitis: A Pilot Clinical Study. Am JOphthalmol. 2019 Dec;208:387-396.
11. Sepulveda-Beltran PA, Levine H, Altamirano DS, Martinez JD, Durkee H, Mintz K, Leblanc R, Tóthová JD, Miller D, Parel JM, Amescua G. Rose Bengal Photodynamic Antimicrobial Therapy: A Review of the Intermediate-Term Clinical and Surgical Outcomes. Am JOphthalmol. 2022 Aug 8;243:125-134.