Bad breath cure set to fly after promising trials

By LIAM DANN


Listed biotechnology company Blis Technologies says its flagship product - the bacterial throat guard K12 - has performed well in clinical trials to test its use as a cure for chronic bad breath.

Blis already has a K12 product which it markets as a preventative against throat infections. K12 acts by reducing levels of undesirable bacteria in the throat and building up levels of healthy bacteria to replace them.

Proof that the product is a cure for bad breath would provide a significant new revenue stream for the company, which reported a loss of $1.41 million for the six months to September 30, 2003.

Blis plans to target the lucrative oral hygiene market in the US and Europe and has developed K12 as a mouthwash to meet the regulatory requirements of those markets.

Head of research Chris Chilcott said research showed that people with healthy breath had high levels of the beneficial oral bacterium streptococcus salivarius living on their tongue. For people with bad breath streptococcus salivarius was typically at low levels or absent and their tongue was instead inhabited with bacteria responsible for bad breath.

The K12 trial represented a new long-term approach to the prevention of bad breath by addressing that fundamental bacterial imbalance, he said.

Preliminary trial results were positive, he said.

They are now being written up for publication and will be presented at the International Conference on Breath Odour taking place in London in April.

Further testing and trials were also under way to build on the evidence.

Blis chief executive Kelvin Moffatt said the company had lodged a patent and had been approached by distributors with oral health care interests in Europe and the US.

Last month Blis raised $3.1 million through a rights issue.

That money would be used to commercialise the K12 products in foreign markets, Moffatt said.

Blis' share price has risen by nearly 50 per cent since December 30. The shares closed at 19c yesterday.

How it works

Blis says bad breath is caused by low levels of the bacterium "streptococcus salivarius" on the tongue, combined with high levels of undesirable bacteria.

Clinical trials suggest the Blis product works by reducing the levels of undesirable bacteria and promoting the recovery of streptococcus salivarius.