At a crowded event last night held down at the Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation (CERI), a new bio-med company – Lixa – was launched, which has plans to beat back antibiotic-resistant super bugs.
Co-founder and CEO Maud Eijkenboom explained that Lixa has been set up to focus on “developing scalable antibiofilm technologies to treat antimicrobial resistance (AMR), for anyone, anything and anywhere”.
“Our technologies disrupt both mature and immature biofilms and are compatible with most existing antimicrobials. We are open to partnerships to develop real solutions to AMR,” she said.
Having been one of the first recipients of a $10,000 CERI Startup grant (which has now been converted to shares), the company has gone on to raise $2.2 million from some local family offices.
Bacteria in the body forms protective ‘bio-films’ around them, and Lixa’s core product, Neo X, attacks this film, allowing the body to then deal with the bacteria.
Such innovations take a long time to become commercialised, and the company is hoping to start clinical trials in the next year.
“AMR needs to be solved by combining multiple different technologies and expertise,” said Ms Eijkenboom.
We must provide solutions that can be applied in any country and animal husbandry environment because AMR is a multi-faceted problem.
The Lixa technology is compatible with existing antimicrobials and is expected to be scalable regardless of economic environments and living standards.
Together we can make this world a better place. With Lixa, now we can.
Dr Maud Eijkenboom
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For more, visit Lixa.life
