Building upon scientific lessons
Minneganan: Advancing Burn Care Beyond Conventional Antibiotics
Gavia BIO’s first antimicrobial peptide therapeutic product, Minneganan (DGL13K), is under development to protect clinically managed burn patients from infection with sustained effectiveness. Building upon scientific lessons observed directly from nature, we aim to help patients in highly vulnerable conditions steadily heal while medical providers stay a step ahead of bacteria.
- Supports healing
- Non-toxic/non-allergenic
- Broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity
- Resistance-resilient
uniqueness
Outsmarting Bacteria
Unlike traditional antibiotics, which typically target a single bacterial process and see their effectiveness wane when bacteria adapt, Gavia BIO’s antimicrobial peptides work differently. Inspired by the body's own innate immune defenses, they offer a different mechanism of antimicrobial activity and a promising new approach to protecting patients from infection.
Most naturally occurring proteins and peptides are built from left-handed (L-form) amino acids, but researchers believe bacteria are generally well-equipped to recognize and evade L-form molecules because they have evolved alongside them for billions of years.
Gavia BIO’s Minneganan instead uses a right-handed (D-form) peptide structure. The research Gavia’s team conducted in variable conditions found that while dangerous bacteria developed resistance to the L-form version of its peptide, no such resistance was observed to the D-form.
In addition, Minneganan has demonstrated the ability to be formulated to eradicate bacterial biofilms, communities of bacteria that can be difficult to treat because they offer bacteria additional protection from conventional antimicrobial therapies.
Minneganan Has Demonstrated Activity Against:
- Acinetobacter baumannii (XDR)
- Bacteroides fragilis
- Clostridioides difficile
- Enterobacter cloacaen
- Enterococcus faecalis (VRE)
- Enterococcus faecium
- Escherichia coli (MDR)
- Klebsiella pseudomonae (ESBL, MDR)
- Porphyromonas gingivalis
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDR, XDR)
- Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
- Staphylococcus spp. Coagulase negative (MDR, MRSP)
- Staphylococcus epidermidis
- Staphylococcus haemolyticus
- Staphylococcus pseudointermedius (MDR, MRSP)
- Staphylococcus schleiferi (MDR)
- Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
- Streptococcus agalactiae
- Streptococcus Alpha Hemolytic
- Streptococcus dysgalactiae
- Streptococcus gallolyticus
- Streptococcus gordonii
- Streptococcus mitis
- Streptococcus mitis oralis
- Streptococcus oralis
- Streptococcus pyogenes
- Streptococcus salivarius
outcomes
Compiling Evidence
Minneganan continues to advance through rigorous laboratory and preclinical evaluation on a wide array of isolates.
0
major species Minneganan has demonstrated antimicrobial activity against, including the “ESCAPE” pathogens of critical concern
0+
total bacterial isolates Minneganan has been proven to work on
0%
multi-drug resistant strains that were killed by Minneganan
100%
bacterial species that develop resistance to Minneganan
0%
biofilm bacteria killed by Minneganan
PRODUCT ORIGIN
Nature Provided the Inspiration
Like many great scientific discoveries, the development of Minneganan began with a simple question from observing the natural world: Why do wounds inside our mouths often heal far more quickly than similar wounds on the skin, despite the mouth teeming with bacteria?
Gavia BIO's scientific team engaged in intense scientific scrutiny to determine which natural defense mechanisms make this possible. Their research led to naturally occurring proteins found in saliva. By isolating, optimizing and engineering one of these peptide sequences into a patented therapeutic candidate, the team developed Minneganan, translating a biological insight into a novel therapeutic candidate.
A second breakthrough was the finding that Minneganan can self-assemble into active hydrogels. Due to their high water content and soothing nature, hydrogels hold special promise for burn wound care.
⇀ Product availability
Advancing Toward Clinical Readiness
Burn injuries remove one of the body's most important protective barriers, leaving patients particularly vulnerable to infection. At the same time, antibiotic resistance continues to complicate treatment decisions for clinicians caring for these patients.
Gavia BIO believes burn care patients and their providers require better solutions and this field of care represents the best frontier to demonstrate the critical value of a new class of antimicrobial peptide therapeutics.
As Minneganan advances through development, Gavia BIO sees great potential for engineered antimicrobial peptides to protect patients from infection while helping preserve the long-term effectiveness of antimicrobial therapy.
How is Minneganan different from conventional antibiotics?
Unlike many traditional antibiotics that target a single bacterial process, Minneganan is an engineered antimicrobial peptide designed with a unique D-amino acid structure. This novel approach has demonstrated broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and, in published studies, no new bacterial resistance has been observed
Which bacteria has Minneganan been tested against?
Minneganan has demonstrated antimicrobial activity against more than 400 bacterial isolates representing 26 clinically important bacterial species, including multidrug-resistant organisms and all ESKAPE pathogens—Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter species. The CDC and WHO recognize these bacteria among the world's most significant causes of healthcare-associated infections because of their ability to develop resistance to conventional antibiotics.
What has preclinical testing shown about safety and stability?
Preclinical studies have shown encouraging results, including low observed toxicity, no acute skin toxicity, no delayed hypersensitivity following topical application and no systemic uptake after topical use. The peptide has also demonstrated excellent stability, resisting enzymatic degradation and maintaining activity under a range of storage and temperature conditions.
Why start with burn care, and how will Minneganan be administered?
Burn injuries compromise the body's natural protective barrier, leaving patients especially vulnerable to infection while antibiotic resistance continues to complicate treatment decisions. Gavia BIO envisions Minneganan being developed as topical hydrogels and spray formulations, providing clinicians with flexible treatment options for patients experiencing varying types and degrees of burn injuries.
