BIOWORLD TODAY, 21 April 2014
By Marie Powers, Staff Writer
In Greek mythology, Telephus was a son of Heracles who received a wound in battle that would not heal until he returned to the Greek warrior, Achilles, who had inflicted the injury. He was healed by the very spear that had pierced him.
Real life is decidedly more complicated, but the fable is an apt metaphor for Telephus Medical LLC, which is developing a first-in-class humanized monoclonal antibody to prevent Staphylococcus reinfection and osteomyelitis in patients following total hip or knee replacement surgery. The company’s technology is designed to prevent the early events that drive the formation of antibiotic-resistant biofilm infections on implanted medical devices, which today require additional, revision surgery.