BACATTACK · A stealth attack tool for preventing clinical drug resistance through a unique self-regenerating surface

Outbreaks of clinical infections affect many thousands of patients in Europe yearly. The present effective treatment for infections is large doses of systemically applied drugs. There is a high risk of recurring infections and biofilm formation for patients dependent on long term in-dwelling catheters and the extended dependency on antibiotics result in clinical drug resistance. We present a new tool for minimizing drug resistance by upgrading existing and future medical devices through a unique self-regenerating surface that prevents biofilm formation by a two-fold stealth attack mechanism. This will be achieved by an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) that allows for long term release of a range of antimicrobial strategies, such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) . The IPNs contain hydrogels where the AMP is stored until the release starts at the insertion of the device with an expected long-term effect. The first line of defence will be a fixed galvanic noble metal alloy coating that will prevent bacteria from colonizing the surface. Local and site-specific treatment with long term effect instead of systemic treatment implies improved patient management and citizen well-fare.