Triple Amputation From Flesh-Eating Disease in the United Kingdom Highlights Importance of NovaBay’s NeutroPhase Wound Cleanser

EMERYVILLE, Calif, Mar 31, 2014 (Korea Bizwire) - NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT:NBY). The Daily Mirror, a  British newspaper, recently reported  the tragic story of a father who lost both legs, an arm and half of  his face to deadly flesh-eating bacteria. Alex Lewis, 34, went to bed  with what he thought was a common cold, but had to be rushed to the  hospital hours later in toxic shock. Doctors were barely able to save  his life—and the treatment required three emergency amputations.

Lewis’ tragic story highlights the urgent need for more effective  treatments against life-threatening flesh-eating disease—and NovaBay  believes that its NeutroPhase^®* Skin and Wound Cleanser, used  as adjunct therapy for the disease, offers a major improvement. “We hope  to prevent patients like Lewis from having to lose their limbs from this  terrible disease,” says Ron Najafi, Ph.D., CEO of NovaBay.

Dr. John Crew, Vascular Surgeon and Medical Director of the Advanced  Wound Care Center at Seton Medical Center in Daly City, California, has  developed a procedure in which dangerous wounds, like Lewis’, are  treated with systemic antibiotics and also irrigated with NeutroPhase  while being vacuumed using negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT).

Dr. Crew has now treated more than a dozen patients with flesh-eating  disease (or necrotizing fasciitis) with this approach. Mortality from  flesh-eating disease can be as high as 80% without aggressive treatment.  Even with the current standard of care, about 20% of victims still  die—and many more, like Alex Lewis, lose hands, arms or legs. But none  of patients Dr. Crew has treated with the new approach has died or even  lost a limb. “Now for the first time we can stop the progress of this  terrible disease,” says Dr. Crew.

In a recent issue of the peer-reviewed journal WOUNDS,  for instance, Dr. Crew described the case of a woman named Lori Madsen.  A few days after scraping her elbow in a parking lot fall, Madsen, then  51, collapsed in the hospital with a raging Streptococcus  infection. Her blood pressure dropped so low it was unreadable. But Dr.  Crew’s treatment regimen of IV antibiotics and irrigation with  NeutroPhase brought the infection—and the cascade of tissue damage  triggered by the bacteria—under control. The wound healed completely.  “He saved my arm and my life,” says Madsen.

Dr. Crew will describe not only Madsen’s case, but also the successful  treatment of other patients. For instance, Dr. Crew cured restaurant  manager Michael Meillon, 55, of an infection that was eating away  Meillon’s groin area, causing his kidneys to fail and threatening his  life. In another case, bacteria and bacterial toxins had eaten away all  the skin on the lower leg of Jared Hamilton. But Dr. Crew’s treatment  with NeutroPhase and NPWT saved Hamilton’s leg. “NeutroPhase is making  history,” said Dr. Najafi. “We were happy to see Jared in NovaBay’s  headquarters offices alive and smiling.”

NovaBay’s key innovation was creating a stable, 0.01% pure version of  hypochlorous acid in saline (with no bleach impurities, which is often  present in Dakin and Dakin-like solution). NovaBay’s innovation is a  natural substance produced by the immune system as a first defense  against microbial invaders. The version, which became NovaBay’s  NeutroPhase product, has been cleared by the Food & Drug Administration  as a wound cleanser through the FDA’s 510(k) process. In a recent  peer-reviewed study, NeutroPhase achieved better results in lab  tests than 18 other commercial wound cleansing products, killing  bacteria in less than a minute. Lab tests also show that NeutroPhase is  effective at neutralizing the toxins that eat away tissue.

It’s difficult to say whether or not Alex Lewis’ legs and arms could  have been saved by the new NeutroPhase-based treatment, says Dr. Crew.  “But I’m committed to using this promising approach to minimize or even  prevent the losses that other patients might otherwise suffer from this  disease,” says Dr. Crew.

About NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Going Beyond Antibiotics^®

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company  focused on developing topical non-antibiotic anti-microbial products.

*About NeutroPhase^®

NeutroPhase^® is a 510(k)-cleared wound cleanser and is  intended for use under the supervision of healthcare professionals for  cleansing and removal of foreign material, including: microorganisms and  debris from wounds; cleaning minor cuts, minor burns, superficial  abrasions, and minor irritations of the skin; as well as moistening  absorbent wound dressings. It is also intended for moistening and  debriding acute and chronic dermal lesions, such as: Stage I-IV pressure  ulcers, stasis ulcers, leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, post surgical  wounds, first and second degree burns, as well as grafted and donor  sites.

NeutroPhase is a 0.01% pure hypochlorous acid in saline (with no bleach  impurities, which is often present in Dakin and Dakin-like solution). In in  vitro laboratory models, NeutroPhase has shown to be fast-acting  against bacteria, biofilm and toxins. Statements regarding necrotizing  fasciitis and flesh-eating bacteria have not been reviewed by the FDA.  More information on NeutroPhase and how to purchase it at: www.neutrophase.com.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements and opinions, which  are based upon management’s current expectations, assumptions,  estimates, projections and beliefs. These statements include, but are  not limited to, statements regarding the effectiveness of NovaBay’s  products against bacteria and ‘flesh-eating disease’. The words  “suggest”, “believe”, and “will” are intended to identify these  forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve  known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause  actual results or achievements to be materially different and adverse  from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking  statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences  include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to  difficulties or delays in development, clinical trial, regulatory  approval, production and marketing of the company’s product candidates,  unexpected adverse side effects or inadequate therapeutic efficacy of  the product candidates, the uncertainty of patent protection for the  company’s intellectual property or trade secrets, the company’s ability  to obtain additional financing as necessary and unanticipated research  and development and other costs. Other risks relating to NovaBay and  Aganocide compounds, including risks that could cause results to differ  materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements in  this press release, are detailed in NovaBay’s latest Form 10-K and Form  10-Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially  under the heading “Risk Factors.” The forward-looking statements in this  release speak only as of this date, and NovaBay disclaims any intent or  obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement  except as required by law.

Source: NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (via Business Wire)