b'Case Study EXPLORING NOVEL ANTI-BIOFILM TECHNOLOGY USE IN NEW AREASDeepening the interaction between academicsand industryIn early 2020 Dr Paolo Pantalone was an NBIC Associate Doctoral Researcher at the University of Nottingham and had been working in association with Unilever on elucidating the mechanism of action of novel agents (Unilevers lactam technology) for Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm prevention. The opportunity arose via the NBIC FTMA scheme to exploit potential novel applications of the Lactam compounds beyond the Unilever core sectors.Left: Untreated silicone (showing biofilm). Right: Lactam treated Dr Pantalone worked on their use in combinationsilicone (showing no biofilm) on catheter sections in artificial urine, 48h S. aureus SH1000 eGFP 24h + P. mirabilis DsRed 24h.with unique coatings for the prevention of catheter associated urinary tract infections developed at Nottingham. Also called CAUTIs, these cost the NHSDr Pantalones work also allowed his professional 99m per year. According to a House of Commonsnetwork to be enhanced and to work more closely Select Committee Report, these require an extrawith Unilever development teams and in their facilities. 638,000 extra bed days.The project allowed Unilever to gain access to skills they required to develop their technology in an area Various physical techniques were employed at bothoutside of their current fields of use. Unilever recently Nottingham and in Unilevers Materials Innovationcreated a spin-out company (Penrhos Bio Ltd) as a Factory based at the University of Liverpool. Thesejoint venture with the life sciences investment group aimed to characterise the anti-fouling properties ofInnova Partnerships to market the technology outside lactam-treated materials using established techniquesits normal market sectors. Dr Pantalone has now been such as Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry andsuccessful in securing a job with Unilever, demonstrating confocal microscopy on a state of the art biofilm model.not just his ability, but also the opportunities offered Dr Pantalone said,by collaborative programmes such as the FTMA for The project facilitated development of my currentresearchers to work alongside industry. knowledge surrounding the lactam anti-biofilmLactams, rather than killing bacteria, prevent micro-technology and helped me to translate these agentsorganisms from forming biofilms on surfaces by into a previously unexplored areaapplying thedisrupting their communications systems. Through Proof lactam material to commercial catheters. This requiredof Concept funding, NBIC has funded other projects creative thought and problem solving to deliver insightsto allow Penrhos Bio Ltd to explore and prove, or and areas for opportunities in an efficient manner. disprove, other Lactam applications, for example marine antifouling with the Plymouth Marine Laboratory.Dr Paolo Pantalone Dr Pantalone graduated at the Universit degli Studi dellAquila, Italy in biotechnologies followed by a MSc in medical biotechnologies completed Cum Laude. During his PhD in molecular microbiology and postdoctoral positions at the University of Nottingham, he focused on quorum sensing and biofilm inhibition.41'