Polihexanide

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Jan. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kane Biotech Inc. (TSX-V:KNE OTCQB:KNBIF) (the “Company” or “Kane Biotech” or “Kane”) today announces that the Company will be presenting its revyve™ Antimicrobial Wound Gel at the Boswick Burn and Wound Care Symposium. The international conference will take place from January 27 to February 1, 2024 in Maui, Hawaii and covers the latest advancements in wound healing, burn care, and infection control. During this conference, Kane Biotech will present along with other important voices involved in the care of soft tissue injuries and related complications. “I’m excited to be presenting Kane’s revyve™ Antimicrobial Wound Gel to the wound care community at the Boswick conference and believe it will be very well-received, particularly by practitioners focused on burn care. With its thermo-reversible properties, the gel is easy to apply, stays on the wound and is easily rinsed off with cold water making it ideal for sensitive wounds such as burns,” stated Dr. Gregory Schultz, Chief Scientific Officer of Kane Biotech. “The Wound Gel, which is a combination of Kane’s patented coactiv+™ technology and PHMB, paired with a non-ionic Pluronic surfactant, provides prolonged antimicrobial activity in a moist environment best suited for wound healing.” About Kane Biotech Kane Biotech is a biotechnology company engaged in the research, development and commercialization of technologies and products that prevent and remove microbial biofilms. The Company has a portfolio of biotechnologies, intellectual property (80 patents and patents pending, trade secrets and trademarks) and products developed by the Company's own biofilm research expertise and acquired from leading research institutions. StrixNB™, DispersinB®, Aledex™, bluestem™, bluestem®, silkstem™, goldstem™, coactiv+™, coactiv+®, DermaKB™, DermaKB Biofilm™ and revyve™ are trademarks of Kane Biotech Inc. The Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "KNE" and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol “KNBIF”. For more information: Marc EdwardsRay DupuisNicole SendeyChief Executive OfficerChief Financial OfficerInvestor Relations/PRKane Biotech Inc.Kane Biotech Inc.Kane Biotech Inc.medwards@kanebiotech.comrdupuis@kanebiotech.comnsendey@kanebiotech.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking InformationThis press release contains certain statements regarding Kane Biotech Inc. that constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities law. These statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks relating to the Company’s: (a) financial condition, including lack of significant revenues to date and reliance on equity and other financing; (b) business, including its early stage of development, government regulation, market acceptance for its products, rapid technological change and dependence on key personnel; (c) intellectual property including the ability of the Company to protect its intellectual property and dependence on its strategic partners; and (d) capital structure, including its lack of dividends on its common shares, volatility of the market price of its common shares and public company costs. Further information about these and other risks and uncertainties can be found in the disclosure documents filed by the Company with applicable securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedarplus.ca. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive.

A drug candidate has been found to be highly effective in treating a rare sight-threatening eye infection in a new international clinical trial. A drug candidate, based on pioneering UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital research and currently under development by SIFI S.p.A., has been found to be highly effective in treating a rare sight-threatening eye infection in a new international clinical trial. The findings, published in Ophthalmology, describe the efficacy and safety of the first drug candidate for the treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), applying a novel and evidence-based treatment protocol. AK is one type of microbial keratitis (corneal infection) -- a condition that results in inflammation of the cornea (the eye's clear protective outer layer). AK can cause extreme levels of pain as well as light sensitivity. AK is relatively uncommon, affecting about one in 37,000 contact lens wearers per year in the UK, but it is responsible for about half the cases of sight loss in this group. Contact lens wearers face an increased risk of the disease; a UCL and Moorfields team recently found that people who wear reusable contact lenses face nearly four times the risk of those wearing daily disposables, while showering with lenses in and wearing lenses overnight also each raised the risk by more than threefold.* The treatment being studied, low concentration polihexanide (PHMB 0.02%), was first compounded and used in the 1990s to treat AK, introduced by a team co-led by this latest study's lead author, Professor John Dart, and is widely recommended as a treatment for AK, but it is not a licensed drug, and treatment outcomes have been variable. Professor John Dart (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) said: "Acanthamoeba keratitis in contact lens users can be prevented by following safe use advice: do use daily disposables if possible, wash and dry hands before handling lenses, maintain good lens and lens case hygiene, and don'tuse them when bathing swimming or showering, or use goggles and renew the lens after use, don't wear them overnight, and don't use them every day. "Unfortunately, when the disease does develop the course is prolonged and, in the recent past, one third of patients have had poor visual outcomes with one quarter requiring surgery at some stage. "PHMB 0.02% is an effective and widely recommended unlicensed therapy, but many clinicians have trouble accessing it, mistakes in formulation can sometimes lead to poor results, and the lack of a proven treatment protocol has resulted in wide variations in how the drug is used and in treatment outcomes. We hope that our new robust findings with polihexanide 0.08% will be a game changer for AK treatment, by improving access and the consistency of treatment, addressing currently unmet patient needs." The Phase 3 randomised controlled double blind clinical trial followed a Phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers which showed that a significantly higher concentration (0.08%) of polihexanide was safe to use. The Phase 3 trial was run in accordance with European Medicines Agency scientific advice and compared the efficacy and safety of a high concentration of polihexanide (0.08%) as a monotherapy to a widely used dual therapy, combining a lower dose of PHMB (0.02%) with propamidine. All trials were sponsored and funded by Italian pharmaceutical company SIFI, with partial co-funding by the European Commission. The study involved the analysis of 127 people being treated for AK at six hospitals across Europe (in England, Italy and Poland). The researchers found both formulations to be highly effective when used with the detailed drug delivery protocol, with medical cure rates of 110/127 (87%) overall and for each treatment individually, meaning 87% of people were cured of AK without needing surgery, one of the highest ever reported for AK. The treatment failure rate was 17/127 (13.4%), nearly half of whom required therapeutic corneal transplant surgery. The overall transplant surgery rate of 8/127 (6.3%) is one of the lowest reported in any case series of AK. The researchers say that the widely recommended dual therapy was more effective than usual in this trial because clinicians were strictly following a set treatment protocol. In addition, the new monotherapy has advantages over dual therapy, as the simplicity reduces the risk of errors in practice. Dr Vincenzo Papa (Head of Scientific Affairs at SIFI) and co-author of the study said: "This publication in Ophthalmology, the leading peer-reviewed journal in our field, further encourages our continued efforts to make polihexanide 0.08% (Akantior®) available to patients with AK, as the first approved orphan medicinal product. Given the extreme burden of the disease and the high unmet medical need, we are proud of the high efficacy outcomes in the robust setting that the trial created, especially when compared with the efficacy rates of 60% reported with the current best treatment." Based on the comprehensive quality, preclinical and clinical data package generated over 15 years of research, SIFI is now seeking regulatory approvals for polihexanide 0.08% in Europe, the UK and the US. Juliette Vila Sinclair Spence, Rare Disease Patient Advocate & Chairwoman, Acanthamoeba Keratitis Eye Foundation, commented: "Exciting news! AK Warriors (aka patients) are now one step closer to receiving the first-ever product with a standardised protocol for Acanthamoeba keratitis. This is starting to bring light to the end of the tunnel." More about Acanthamoeba keratitis AK causes the front surface of the eye, the cornea, to become painful and inflamed, due to infection by Acanthamoeba, a cyst-forming microorganism. The most severely affected patients (a quarter of the total) end up with less than 25% of vision or become blind following the disease and face prolonged treatment. Overall, 25% of people affected require corneal transplants to treat the disease or restore vision.** Contact lens use is now the leading cause of microbial keratitis in patients with otherwise healthy eyes in countries in the global north. Sight loss resulting from microbial keratitis is uncommon but Acanthamoeba, although a rare cause, is one of the most severe and is responsible for about half of those contact lens users who develop sight loss after keratitis. 90% of AK cases are associated with avoidable risks. In recent years a UCL and Moorfields team found AK to be on the rise in South-East England.*** Furthermore, AK is also increasing in prevalence in some part of the global south, including parts of India, where the leading risk factor is agriculture associated corneal trauma. The findings reported here are also relevant to these populations.