A versatile sponge

Treatment of sepsis and toxic shock requires eliminating bacterial toxins from the bloodstream, but it is often difficult to identify the causal pathogen and its products quickly enough to select a targeted therapy. Cellics Therapeutics Inc. is circumventing the problem with a strategy to mop up a wide range of sepsis-causing toxins, based on a nanosponge technology that mimics red blood cells.

“Most other treatments for sepsis, either mAbs or small molecules, are targeted to the specific structure of a toxin, so each compound can only target one type of toxin,” said CEO Huiqing (Winnie) Zhu. “If you have multiple toxins in the bloodstream,” the difference between persistent shock and sepsis resolution depends on removing all toxins, she added. ...