SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Silver Bullet Therapeutics, Inc., a privately-held medical device company committed to the development of antimicrobial medical devices, announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office allowed a new patent, BONE IMPLANTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF INFECTION. The company also announced that it has made an expedited CE Mark filing for a significantly expanded OrthoFuzIon Antimicrobial Bone Screw System product line.
“Not only has our IP portfolio swelled to 14 US and International issued or allowed patents, we have also effectively proven out our technology in surgical mesh and surface preparations for almost any implant,” stated Paul Chirico, President and CEO of Silver Bullet Therapeutics. “Our strategy is validated daily by either a news story of a medical device related surgical site infection, or the fact that a few of the large medical device companies are realizing that antimicrobial devices advance the practice of medicine, and set the stage for the next evolution of medical devices.”
Statistics back up the need for antimicrobial medical devices. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) caused from antimicrobial growth, or biofilm, on medical devices is estimated to cost the US healthcare system over $35 billion annually, with CDC figures suggesting that surgical site infections account for over 30% of all HAIs in hospitalized patients.
“In addition to the challenges of taking care of our patients, we continuously have to be ever-vigilant of surgical site infections,” said Bohdan Chopko, Ph.D, M.D., co-Founder of Silver Bullet Therapeutics and Associate Professor of Neurosurgery for Stanford University. “Not one surgical specialty is immune from the prospect of a potential life threatening surgical site infection.”
About Silver Bullet Therapeutics
Silver Bullet Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held company located in San Jose, CA, has developed and patented antimicrobial implants and medical devices to address surgical-site and hospital-acquired infections. The company’s first commercial product, the OrthoFuzIon Bone Screw System, utilizes an advanced silver ion technology that allows for rapid ionization of the silver and creation of an antimicrobial zone around the screw to prevent microbial colonization of the implanted devices. OrthoFuzIon is a Trademark of Silver Bullet Therapeutics, Inc. and is only approved for sale in the European Union.