TherOZap Found Successful at Inhibiting Zika Virus During In-Vitro Tests

A Canadian medical device technology company announced that the TherOZap™ Technology proved successful at inhibiting the Zika virus during in-vitro tests.

Therma Bright Inc. said in a September 4, 2019, press release that a recent study’s results demonstrated that TherOZap technology was able to limit Zika virus replication in cell cultures. 

The researchers who completed the study stated in a press release that, "the in-vitro testing has shown that a short heat pulse from the TherOZap device dramatically inhibits the production of infectious Zika virus in multiple cell types".

The main aspect addressed in this study was the effect of heat in limiting viral replication at the initial stages of infection. The effects were studied 2 hours post-infection to mimic the early stages of localized virus replication following a mosquito bite. 

The key findings of this TherOZap technology:

• treatment at a specific temperature for 30 seconds reduced viral replication by 50% and titer by 85% respectively in Vero cells,
• decreased viral count 100 fold with coated material tips with no harm to healthy cells,
• decreased viral count 400 fold with uncoated material tips, a significant statistical decrease to viral count, with the study results showing no harm to healthy cells,
• the effect of this technology was cell line independent with a similar reduction in replication and viral titer observed in A549 cells,
• increasing the device temperature did not significantly improve the performance of the device,
• performed comparably well with both the low concentration of viral count and high concentrations of viral count (inoculum of 100 and 1000 Plaque-Forming Units (PFUs)).

From the above data, the conclusion from the study was: "TherOZap technology indicates the application of heat at a specific temperature early (within 2 hours) during viral infection can significantly attenuate the viral replication and spread.” 

“Specifically, the combination of heat and uncoated material chosen to be tested by Therma displayed the greatest effect at significantly attenuating the viral replication and spread."

Ideally, future studies should focus on further validating these findings in more physiologically relevant cell types or tissue models. Ultimately small animal model studies would be needed to demonstrate efficacy in-vivo. 

Finally, expanding the studies to cover other arboviruses (viruses transmitted by insects to humans) would broaden the potential market for TherOZap technology.

Mr. Rob Fia, Therma Bright’s CEO, commented: "We look forward to testing our technology further and to potentially investigate other applications of the TherOZap technology against other mosquito-borne diseases.”

Therma Bright is a progressive medical device technology company focused on providing consumers with quality medical devices that address their dermatological and healthcare needs.

Published by Zika News