Japanese Device Succeeds Where Antisepsis Drugs Fail

Synthetic fiber specialist Toray of Japan claims to have succeeded in an area where a catalogue of drug companies have failed - the development of a safe and effective treatment for sepsis. Several US biotechnology companies, including Synergen, Cortech, Centocor, Chiron and Xoma, have all experienced trouble getting their antisepsis products to market.

The Toraymyxin device utilizes a process reminiscent of kidney dialysis in which blood from the sepsis patient is passed through a plastic "filter" which is filled with antibiotic-steeped fibers. The antibiotic used in the device is polymyxin B, which is known to be a effective in vitro against the Gram negative organisms which commonly cause sepsis, but which is generally not given systemically because of its kidney toxicity. Toray claims that the antibiotic is bound tightly enough to the fibers so that none will leech out into the patients' circulation.

The device was approved in October 1993, but the Ministry of Health and Welfare had not agreed pricing with the firm until last month. Toray will charge 370,000 yen ($3,700) for each device, which it will market to emergency rooms and first aid centers in Japan, notes the Asian Wall Street Journal.