Ohio State University Researcher Receives Competitive Grant Utilizing Infectech, Inc. Technology

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- Nutra Pharma Corp., a biotechnology holding company that owns rights to patents and intellectual property related to the development of drugs for HIV and multiple sclerosis, has announced today that its majority owned subsidiary, Infectech, Inc., received a matching funds grant through a research proposal at Ohio State University.

Dr. Srinand Sreevatsan of the Food Animal Health Research Program of Ohio State University was chosen by the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center competitive grants program for the funding of his proposal titled, Assessment of the Use of Paraffin Baiting for Diagnostic of the Johne's Disease Pathogen, Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP). Infectech, Inc. owns the patents, which Sreevatsan is utilizing for his approved grant. Mycobacteria are responsible worldwide for billions of dollars in damage annually to the cattle industry. Specifically, Mycobacterium avium is a leading cause of disease in AIDS patients worldwide. The Infectech technology will allow for a more rapid and efficient detection and treatment of this pathogen.

"This grant will allow for some important validation of Infectech's patented technology," commented Dr. Mitchell Felder, CEO for Infectech. "Third-party validation in commercially-viable applications should rapidly move our technology through the FDA approval process and into the marketplace."

Infectech owns 29 issued patents related to the rapid isolation, growth, identification and antibiotic sensitivity of disease causing bacteria such as tuberculosis (TB) and Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (MAI). Infectech's researchers discovered that certain grades of paraffin wax, when used in conjunction with a microscope slide, and combined with a nutrient broth, provides for the rapid isolation, growth and identification of various disease causing bacteria. Infectech has developed a diagnostic test kit based on this technology. The basic test kit consists of a glass slide coated with paraffin, which is used as a carbon (food) source by certain pathogenic bacterial species such as TB. The slides are incubated in a sample of almost any bodily fluid (a non-invasive sample of saliva is preferred) within a nutrient broth. This creates a semi-solid growth medium for the bacteria, which imitates its natural environment within a human or animal host. The bacteria collect on the paraffin slide in four to eight days. Testing can then be done to identify the species of bacteria. This testing can be done via acid-fast staining or through PCR gene amplification. Additionally, the bacteria can be cultured with antibiotics to test for specific sensitivities. Through the choice of different nutrient broths, each kit can be tailored to encourage the growth of a specific bacterium. The test kits are being designed to work on a class of bacteria that includes TB, MAI, Para-tuberculosis, Pseudomonas and Nocardia.

Source: Nutra Pharma Corp.