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Sydney, Australia –Biosignal Ltd. and the Institute for Eye Research have signed an agreement with what they are calling "a major contact lens manufacturer" to develop an anti-bacterial daily disposable and other frequent-replacement contact lenses for release in the United States and Europe
Sydney, Australia–Biosignal Ltd. and the Institute for Eye Research have signed an agreement with what they are calling "a major contact lens manufacturer" to develop an anti-bacterial daily disposable and other frequent-replacement contact lenses for release in the United States and Europe.
The deal, inked as a "memorandum of understanding," includes the development of anti-bacterial contact lenses that would prevent contact-lens wearers from getting eye infections. Daily disposable contact lenses represent a new segment for Biosignal and complement the development of anti-bacterial extended-wear lenses, the company noted.
Biosignal will fund research and development of anti-bacterial extended-wear lenses, and it will have exclusive negotiation rights during that 16-month phase to use the technology as the basis for a future royalty agreement. Final testing under the R&D agreement will be done in a small, in-house human study in 2006, with the goal of launching anti-bacterial, daily disposable lenses within 2 or 3 years.
It is based on anti-biofilm technology that was developed after it was discovered that the eastern Australian seaweed Delisea pulchra produced natural furanones that disable bacteria's ability to colonize.