LOS ANGELES, Dec. 9, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ViaDerma, Inc. (OTC:VDRM), a specialty pharmaceutical company devoted to bringing new products to market, recently announced TetraStemTM, a topical liquid tetracycline-based antibiotic that uses a patent-pending innovative transdermal delivery system that can convert oral medication active ingredients into topical drugs. The drug is FDA-registered as a first aid antibiotic to help prevent skin infection in minor cuts, scrapes, and burns, but importantly, has also shown to be effective in fighting more harmful forms of staphylococcus aureus infections, which are commonly known as 'staph infections.'
Due to mutations of historically more common forms of staph infections, according to the Mayo Clinic, certain strains of staph bacteria have become resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat staph infections. Without the introduction of novel antibiotic treatments, infections can spread and sometimes become life threatening.
ViaDerma's studies involving TetraStemTM continue to demonstrate efficacy in terms of treating novel forms of staff infections not responding to treatment using current standard of care antibiotics. "We are enthusiastic about the results we have achieved to date in terms of the anecdotal feedback we have received from patients that have been treated with TetraStemTM," said Dr. Christopher Otiko, ViaDerma's founder and CEO.
"Given the successful implementation of TetraStemTM to date and the demonstrated need for new, more potent forms of antibiotics, in addition to deploying TetraStemTM at select hospitals, ViaDerma management will explore partnerships with large pharmaceutical companies in order to accelerate the application of TetraStemTM at this time," said Dr. Otiko.
According to the Financial Times, yesterday's announcement of a $9.5B takeover of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. by Merck & Co. Inc., "highlights renewed interest from big pharma in the long-neglected market for antibiotics. [T]here have been signs of a revival in the past two years with Roche, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi all pledging fresh investment or forging research partnerships to develop new bug fighting drugs."
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned in April that antibiotic resistance "threatens the achievements of modern medicine." Without urgent action, it said, the world was "headed for a post-antibiotic error, in which common infections and minor injuries, which have been treatable for decades, can once again kill." Currently, antibiotic-resistant infections kill approximately 50,000 people a year in the United States and Europe and that number is on the rise, according to the WHO.
TetraStemTM is currently available for sale and ViaDerma management is actively working to expand distribution channels to meet growing demand. For more information about TetraStemTM, please visit www.viadermalicensing.com.
About ViaDerma, Inc.
ViaDerma, Inc. (OTC:VDRM) is a publicly traded specialty pharmaceutical company committed to bringing new products to market and licensing its innovative technology to current leaders in the pharmaceutical industry in a wide variety of therapeutic areas. ViaDerma's lead product, TetraStemTM, uses an innovative transdermal delivery method that allows for application of active ingredients in a topical form. This patent-pending dual carrier transdermal technology may be applied in products within the medical and cosmetic markets. For more information, please visit www.viadermalicensing.com.
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