1998 Winner: Industrial Research
Developing Vaccines To Prevent Antibiotic Resistance
Cytovax Biotechnologies develops state-of-the-art vaccines and therapeutics against infectious diseases, as well as diagnostics and immunological research products. Its lead product is a peptide vaccine for a bacterium called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This is a very common, opportunistic bacteria. Under normal circumstances it is benign, but it can be fatal to hospitalized patients and others whose immune systems are already compromised.
Critical Solution
Currently, the bacteria are treated with antibiotics to which patients are becoming increasingly resistant. Cytovax’s products will circumvent this problem. The company is moving forward to get its vaccine into clinical trials and hopes to have it on the market in approximately five to seven years.
The company also sells a whooping cough diagnostic kit as well as cell separation columns for diagnostic and research use. Sales of these products are projected at $500,000 this year. This prize will be used to fund a graduate student for six months to begin work on a second generation vaccine candidate.
