BioDiem wins third US patent for BDM-I

BioDiem (ASX:BDM) has secured a third US patent for antimicrobial candidate BDM-I.

The US Patent and Trademark Office has notified BioDiem that it will award a US divisional patent covering the use of BDM-I as a treatment for skin and wound infections caused by various fungi and bacteria.

“While we already have development work underway for BDM-I use in other bacterial and fungal diseases, we are keen to pursue treatment of super-bug wound infections. This is where the medical need is high and the market size is growing,” BioDiem CEO Julie Phillips said.

“We already have in vitro activity against some of these bugs such as MRSA and will look for a partner or licensee to accelerate this development.”

BioDiem already holds a US patent covering the antimicrobial’s activity against Plasmodium falciparum - a microorganism responsible for a severe form of malaria - and Trichomonas vaginalis, and another patent covering its activity in vulvovaginitis.

BioDiem has also been granted patents covering BDM-I in Australia, Europe, Japan, Canada, China, Singapore and South Africa.

The company is developing BDM-I through collaborations with multiple research groups. These include a partnership with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explore its effectiveness in tuberculosis and serious fungal infections, a broad collaboration with the US Army’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and a project with the Queensland Institute for Medical Research covering tropical disease schistosomiasis.

BioDiem (ASX:BDM) shares were trading unchanged at $0.06 as of around 1.30 pm on Monday.