Women's Health
Our first indication is Bacterial Vaginosis (BV), a type of inflammation that results in recurrent infections, disruption of homeostasis and longer-term complications in women of reproductive ages.
It impacts almost a third of all women.
BV is marked by an alteration in the balance of the "good" vs. the "bad" bacteria (dysbiosis) in the vagina, i.e. the lactobacilli, which are inhabitants of the healthy vaginal microbiome. The beneficial lactobacilli get outnumbered by polymicrobial biofilms of pathogenic bacteria with overgrowth resulting in a fishy odor, higher vaginal pH ( >4.5) and vaginal epithelial barrier dysfunction.
The prevalence of BV in the United States is estimated to be 21.2 million (29.2%) among women ages 14–49, and is associated with an umbrella of clinical complications: reproductive issues not limited to miscarriages and preterm births; additional secondary infections including urinary tract and yeast infections, and increased rates of STDS; pelvic inflammatory disease and fertility issues.
The current standard of care for BV are antibiotics that do not prevent recurrence, are non-selective in some cases and not active against drug-resistant pathogens.
Therefore, we are leading efforts to address BV via topical therapeutics that can rapidly eliminate pathogenic bacteria while leaving the beneficial bacteria intact.
