Biosignal strikes deal with lens-manufacturer

Sydney's Biosignal (ASX:BOS) and its Institute for Eye Research (IER) partner have finalised a deal with an anonymous suitor - one of the world's biggest contact lens makers - to test Biosignal's novel antibacterial coating for extended-wear lenses.

The lens manufacturer has agreed to provide 20,000 clinical-grade contact lenses for BioSignal to coat with its patented furanone anti-bacterial compound, to test its ability to prevent eye infections in contact lens wearers.

"They're supplying the lenses and some technical advice, and we're attaching the coating - there are no milestone payments," BioSignal CEO Michael Oredsson said today.

"We've had contact with the company, and several other contact-lens manufacturers, over several years. We approached them, but we know each other pretty well."

The compound, extracted from the Australian seaweed Delisea pulchra, disrupts quorum-sensing, the cell-to-cell signaling process that allows bacteria to form large colonies - bacteria become pathogenic only when they aggregate.

The company announced it had achieved proof of concept last year, after trialling furanone-coated contact lenses in animals.

"Bacterial contamination of contact lens surfaces is a major problem and increases the risk of sight threatening eye infections," Oredsson said. "Biosignal's furanone-coated contact lenses would solve this problem by jamming bacterial signalling and preventing bacterial build-up on lenses," "Providing the clinical proof that contact lens-induced eye infections can be significantly reduced would be a major breakthrough both for our technology and within the contact lens industry."

Oredsson said the deal would allow BioSignal and its potential client to show that the furanone coating could be applied to the lenses in a commercial process.

"We'll be conducting a couple of small-scale animal and human trials in the first half of 2005, and in the second half we hope to kick off a major trial in 250 human volunteers that should take 6 to 12 months.

"After that, we should have an opportunity to register a product. We're aiming to be on the market in 2007."

Oreddsson said BioSignal is aiming to create a royalty stream for itself and the IER, by licensing several big contact lens companies to use the technology.