Single application thixotropic antibiotic delivery systems for otitis externa

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PROJECT SUMMARY Outer ear infections (otitis externa or OE) affect an estimated 10% of people in their lifetime, with associated healthcare costs amounting to over $500 million annually. The pathology is mostly treatable in the general population with topical antibiotics regimes, and can be supplemented in severe cases with systemic counterparts. However, incorrect application or non-compliance with administration schedule of antibiotics leads to infection persistence, recurrence and potentially, development of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. In diabetic or elderly patients, the infection can be life threatening as it can progress into necrotizing or malignant otitis externa (MOE), with severe health consequences. In recent years, the incidence rate of MOE has seen a significant increase and has been associated with antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. Therefore, there is a critical need to develop safe and effective therapies for the treatment of OE and prevention of MOE. Our approach to this problem is the development of ThixOtic, a proprietary drug delivery system that would enable the one-time point-of-care application of drugs to effectively treat the infection and diminish treatment non-compliance related risk of antibiotic resistance development, infection recurrence and complications.