About Pereira

People admitted to the hospital for surgery or treatment of an illness don’t expect to contract an infection during their stay. But hospital-acquired infections – also known as nosocomial infections – are not uncommon and can be life threatening. Unfortunately, a large percentage of the pathogens that cause them are resistant to current antibiotic therapies.

Anne Pereira, associate professor of pathology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and her colleagues, have developed a compound for treating hospital-acquired infections. Known as CAP37, the drug is derived from a protein present in the normal human immune system.

Pereira says there is an unmet need in the market for a treatment for nosocomial infections. Because of the strong antimicrobial activity that CAP37 has against the organisms that cause the infections, she says, it can be a very effective antibiotic for treating them.

Eight patents related to the compound have been issued and three more on various new aspects are pending. In July 2005, a company called Biolytx Pharmaceuticals was formed to raise funds to advance CAP37 to FDA approval.