Substance may help to combat viruses, bacteria

If a University professor's findings released last Saturday live up to expectations, the medical community could gain a potent weapon in the fight against common bacteria and viruses including anthrax, influenza and HIV.

The weapon is a substance called BCTP. Co-developed by internal medicine Prof. James Baker and Novavax Inc., a Maryland-based bio-pharmaceutical company, BCTP has been shown to destroy the viruses and bacteria without harming human cells.

Like mayonnaise, BCTP is an emulsion - a mixture of oil droplets and water. In the case of BCTP, the oil droplets are tiny, and when they come in contact with a bacterium or virus, they join with the invader and break its outer membrane, destroying the microbe.

"What's nice about this emulsion is it's not toxic because it won't interact with your cells but will kill bacteria and microbes," said Baker, director of the University Medical Center's Center for Biologic Nanotechnology.

Baker directed a research study that found the emulsion could effectively counter the effects of anthrax and influenza on mice. There was a 97 percent reduction in wound infections of mice infected with anthrax-like spores who were washed in BCTP an hour later.

Another study found that mice treated with BCTP and influenza did not develop pneumonia from the virus. In addition, animals treated with BCTP alone did not suffer adverse effects.

Novavax has also conducted research showing the effectiveness of the emulsion in killing the HIV virus.

BCTP could be added to spermicides, which currently only kill sperm, to eliminate the HIV virus before it can be transmitted during sexual intercourse, Baker said.

The emulsion can only be applied topically, absorbed through the skin, because it not only attacks bacteria and viruses when injected into the bloodstream, but also red blood cells, which are a fundamental block in the human respiratory system.

Baker's study was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S Department of Defense's $2-billion program. DARPA is sponsoring Baker a four-year, $10,900,000 grant, with the goal of examining the use of BCTP against agents of biological warfare, such as anthrax and influenza.

"We feel it is a concern to our warfighters," DARPA spokesperson Jan Walker said. "If we have a determined adversary who unleashes biological warfare, we need to protect our personnel."

With foes such as Iraq and North Korea reportedly holding biological weapons that have the potential for mass destruction, the government has taken the dangers of biological warfare seriously.

"These weapons are a grave and urgent threat to international security," Secretary of Defense William Cohen wrote in a memorandum last year.

While vaccines for anthrax and influenza exist, they are used on a limited scale. A treatment could see much more extensive applications.

DARPA encourages the involvement of drug companies in the biological research process.

Without the backing of Novavax, BCTP would not be able to wind its way through the tortuous Food and Drug Administration approval process, Walker said.

"We're very interested in working with pharmaceutical companies," Walker said. "With the small market that the Defense Department represents, it would be impossible to develop these products. If (the product) can also be shown effective against a microbe that the general populace cares about, then it makes sense for drug companies to develop it."

Since BCTP has applications beyond defending against anthrax, once approved, the product could be sold commercially to prevent common infectious diseases. Novavax and the University have co-patented the drug as an antmicrobial and decontamination agent.

10-02-98