Design och preklinisk bedömning av antibiotikafria dendritiska hydrogelsbeläggningar för att bekämpa antimikrobiell resistens (AMR)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a global challenge due to the overuse of antibiotics in primary care. Currently, there are few effective antibiotics for treating infections caused by multidrug-resistant strains. Innovative material platforms that can capture and eliminate bacteria without antibiotics are urgently needed.

An intriguing material platform, for skin or open wound infections, involves crosslinked soft hydrogels based on tree-like dendritic polymers "doped" with positively charged amino acids.

These soft materials show excellent biocompatibility, adhesion to various substrates, and outstanding antibacterial properties with over 99% elimination of MRSA. They also exhibit positive immune-activating properties in human skin cells and reduced inflammation markers.

The proposed PoC project aims to advance these hydrogels as novel and effective antibiotic-free solutions that can treat drug-resistant bacterial infections.

The following parameters will be address:Batch-to-batch consistency of the polymers.Optimizing pre-curing processability.Analyzing the stability of the polymers and hydrogels over time.Assessing the mechanical properties.Conducting preclinical evaluation of the gels.Coating implants, catheters, and wound care products as prototypes.Positive outcome of the project will ensure that the hydrogels meet the necessary criteria to capture the interest of commercial stakeholders for their support to transform from preclinical to clinical phase.