Analysis of enzymes to use for the modification of fucoidan

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Fucoidan is a polysaccharide found in brown algae (seaweed). ARC Medical Devices Inc. has developed and markets fucoidan extracted and purified from brown algae for post-surgical veterinary use to reduce adhesion development. This works very effectively, prompting a desire to develop the product for use in humans. The challenge to this, however, is that fucoidan is an extremely large molecule of heterogeneous composition, making it difficult to a) meet the higher standards of purity and homogeneity required of medical materials for use in human subjects and b) do so in quantities required for human trials. Our proposed solution is to harness naturally occurring enzymes found in marine bacteria and use these bio-processing enzymes to tailor the structure and size of fucoidan, and/or synthesize fucoidan fragments, such that the material is of more defined size and composition and can ultimately be obtained in large quantities of high purity. The pathway envisioned to achieve this has multiple steps, with the particular objective of this proposal being to achieve the initial and critical steps of generating the enzymatic tools required to enable the remodeling and/or synthesis of fucoidan. Successful completion of the project will result in a process to produce a novel, first in class medical device for the reduction of post-surgical adhesions in humans, which in turn will reduce pain, suffering, infertility and mortality in Canadian patients following common surgical procedures; reduce Canadian hospital stays, hospital re-admissions, and re-operations, which in turn will reduce healthcare costs for Canadian governments and taxpayers; and create scientific, manufacturing and sales jobs within Canada.