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University of Memphis professors Warren Haggard and Joel Bumgardner have developed the fast pellet, a quick dissolving tab of antibiotic that will cut down on bacterial infections of wounds.

Several years ago, University of Memphis professor Warren Oliver Haggard attended a meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, where he heard an Army representative speak of the thousands of U.S. soldiers seriously affected by infection after being wounded during combat in Iraq.

The soldiers wear body armor during warfare to protect the torso, but their extremities remain exposed and vulnerable to severe injury from explosive blasts. If a soldier's arm receives a complex wound involving muscle and bone that isn't dealt with adequately, bacterial infection can set in. Once infection gains a foothold, which can happen even after a wound has been properly cleaned, it can multiply rapidly, creating more significant and potentially life-threatening issues.

Haggard was intrigued. What's more, he thought he might have an answer.

As a biomedical engineer, Haggard suspected a compound that he, colleague Joel Bumgardner, and research associate Kelly Richelsoph were developing could have the necessary properties to treat a bacteria-infected wound: a pellet designed to deliver antibiotic directly to the wound and dissolve rapidly — within 24 to 48 hours — without doing harm to the body.

Haggard received a $200,000 grant from the Army's Orthopedic Trauma Research Program and University of Memphis researchers proceeded to develop the Fast Pellet, a tablet that contains 4 percent antibiotic and is used after lavage to medicate a wound. Approximately the diameter and thickness of a pencil eraser, the pellet is placed directly onto the wound bed where it dissolves, releasing a concentrated dose of antibiotic directly to the affected area. The compound, made from dihydrate calcium sulfate "helps retain the drug at the site where you need it. It hits (bacterial) bugs with a sledgehammer before they can establish a foothold," said Bumgardner.

What makes this compound so effective, said Haggard, is that the antibiotic works directly on the wound. "The Army had already done work at different techniques in lavage techniques," added Haggard. "It lowered bacterial count (initially, but the bacteria) would then rebound after 48 hours. Other lavage treatments wouldn't fully remove bacteria either. It must be killed initially or the bacteria will multiply. This is a supplement to the washing step."

Once the basic science of the compound was refined in the lab and had been tweaked to dissolve more rapidly, the research team needed to answer whether their solution could actually kill bacteria. First, they had the compound tested at the Memphis VA Medical Center by microbiologist Harry Courtney, MD, who did a trial study using cultured bacteria. Then the pellets were sent to Joseph Wenke at the U.S. Army Surgical Research Institute, who tested them with a pre-clinical model that simulates complex injuries involving bone, muscle and blood vessels.

Glow-in-the-dark bacteria was inserted into the wound and after eight hours, to simulate battlefield conditions, the wound bed was treated with debridement and lavage. At that point, the pellets were inserted and "compared to just lavage, it was better, lots better," said Haggard. The use of the pellets lowered the bacterial count, by Haggard's estimates, "three orders of magnitude," in other words, the bacterial count was not one hundred times less, but a thousand times less, almost wiping it out completely.

Bringing research to market

The Fast Pellet is now being licensed by the University of Memphis. Though they haven't always been oriented toward bringing faculty research to market, university leaders are making strides to change that. Last January, the FedEx Institute hired Kevin Boggs as its new director of technology transfer and research development. Boggs filed the patent for Fast Pellet and is searching for a company to manufacture it.

With a science background in molecular and cellular biology as well as an MBA, Boggs' job is to learn about faculty research, do market analysis to determine whether researchers products are viable and identify potential companies to produce and market the product.

"Since universities typically do cutting edge research, companies are less apt to put money into the development stage, because it's so cutting edge," said Boggs. "There's more risk in the development process because nothing like it has been made before."

But such risk can also yield impressive results — consider the University of Florida's top-seller: Gatorade. Currently, Boggs is shepherding several dozen faculty products, ranging from pharmaceuticals and sensors to biomedical products and software.

In the meantime, Haggard and Bumgardner are even more enthusiastic about a second compound they're developing; their research being fueled by a $900,000 grant from the Army research program. Like the Fast Pellet, the new compound will be quick dissolving as well, but in addition, it will be able to be customized by surgeons to carry various types of antibiotics. "So the surgeon can pick an antibiotic to specifically target different types of bacteria or pathogens," said Bumgardner.

As often happens in the lab, the compound's creation came about by accident, a byproduct of a failed graduate student's project. Haggard was thankful the student realized it could have use in other applications. In this case, it was an antibiotic delivery system — stopping infection dead in its tracks.

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