Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Researchers Win Innovation Prize for Disease-Fighting ‘Seaweed Drug’

By Cardiff University | June 9, 2017

Researchers discovered that alginates – found in seaweed – can combat multi-drug resistant infections.

Working with the Norwegian biopharmaceutical company AlgiPharma, a team led by Professor David Thomas at the School of Dentistry showed how alginates could disrupt the formation of microbial biofilms.

The project has won the Medical Innovation Award at this year’s Cardiff University Innovation and Impact Awards.

Professor Thomas said: “Our research allowed us to derive material from the natural world with powerful abilities to modify bacterial behaviour, making them more susceptible to antibiotic treatment, and to improve the properties of mucus in patients with lung disease…”

The project began with a small grant from AlgiPharma in 2007 for exploratory microbiology studies, but developed into a nine-year collaboration between the University’s Advanced Therapies Group (ATG), AlgiPharma and Cardiff & Vale University Health Board.

The ATG’s collaborative network helped attract researchers with expertise in specialist areas, paving the way for human clinical studies across the EU and Scandinavia.

The project has continued to attract significant research funding, produced a large volume of leading academic papers and received national and international awards.

Phil Rye, R&D Director at AlgiPharma, said: “The collaboration has enabled us to make significant advances in the development of a new drug, which is now in human clinical studies, and has recently been included in the US Cystic Fibrosis Foundation drug development pipeline…”

Using the information about how the alginate works, scientists have also developed a new inhalation therapy that is being tested on cystic fibrosis patients to help clear mucus obstructions in their lungs and potentially slow the progression of the disease.

If successful it could also be used in other more common respiratory diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, which is reported to affect over one million people in the UK.

The studies are also paving the way towards improved treatment of chronic non-healing skin wounds and fighting organisms that cause conditions such as gum disease.

Related Articles Read More >

Eli Lilly facility
9 R&D developments this week: Lilly builds major R&D center, Stratolaunch tests hypersonic craft, IBM chief urges AI R&D funding
professional photo of wooly mammoth in nature --ar 2:1 --personalize sq85hce --v 6.1 Job ID: 47185eaa-b213-4624-8bee-44f9e882feaa
Why science ethicists are sounding skepticism and alarm on ‘de-extinction’
ALAFIA system speeds complex molecular simulations for University of Miami drug research
3d rendered illustration of the anatomy of a cancer cell
Funding flows to obesity, oncology and immunology: 2024 sales data show where science is paying off
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE