Going Beyond Antibiotics TM Catheter Blockage Case Study NovaBay’s Avenova™ “Has the Capacity to Change Everything,” Says Dr. Lisa Brothers Arbisser Dr. Lisa Brothers Arbisser is the co-founder of Eye Surgeons Associates, now a 22-doctor practice in the Quad Cities in Iowa and Illinois. She is also an adjunct associate professor at the University of Utah Moran Eye Center and a former president of the American College of Eye Surgeons. In this interview, she describes how new products from NovaBay Pharmaceuticals are solving long-standing problems in eye care. Q: In cataract surgery, doctors routinely use preventative antibiotics before every operation to prevent infections, right? Doesn’t that raise concerns about the development of antibiotic resistance? A: The consequences of infection are so dire that we use the biggest hammer that we can for prophylaxis. But that type of antibiotic use is anathema to everyone else in medicine because of the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. Q: Can you tell me, please, why you became an ophthalmologist? A: I decided to be an ophthalmologist when I was 11 years old. My grandfather had a giant retinal tear in one eye and lost all vision in that eye. Then his other eye was affected. My mother found an ophthalmologist who had invented a then new operation, the scleral buckle. So my grandfather went up to Boston for the procedure—and the sight in his second eye was saved. That was momentous. My grandfather said he didn’t want to live if he went blind. The impact that doctor had on our lives was so huge that I wanted to do the same for others. Q: You specialized in cataract surgery? A: Yes, I was doing up to 60 cases a week. Spring 2015 A: I found it to be far better at keeping the lids clean than other treatments. What’s so great about this is that the solution demonstrates in vitro superior antimicrobial kill time, an antiinflammatory effect by neutralizing toxins, and it is not cytotoxic or irritating to human tissue—it doesn’t sting and burn. Every time there’s a new antibiotic, you have to be careful how you use it. We are losing the war with bacteria because of resistance. Q: Tens of millions of Americans suffer from blepharitis, an often-painful condition where Staphylcocci or other bacteria grow on eyelids, causing swelling, redness, inflammation, irritation and a crusty build-up. But traditionally doctors haven’t had a really good way of treating this condition? Q: So NovaBay’s Avenova eyelid cleanser is a possible solution to this problem because it is the only eye care product to contain a potent substance with antimicrobial properties in solution, hypochlorous acid (HOCl), which doesn’t lead to the development of resistant bacteria? [NovaBay calls its formulation of stable, pure HOCl, Neutrox™] A: Just about every older patient has blepharitis, and many children as well. But the hygiene we’ve been telling people to do to treat it is difficult, irritating, and sometimes toxic. We also use antibiotics to treat blepharitis, which really is a chronic low-grade infection, using low doses of antibiotics for a month at a time. But that is exactly what is known to cause resistance. A: For years we have used antibiotics very indiscriminately, creating multi-drug-resistant bacteria. This new product does have the capacity to bring us into an entirely new era of adopting the use of non-antibiotic antimicrobials and conserving our most valuable antibiotics when they are absolutely needed. In in vitro studies, Neutrox (HOCl) in solution has the ability to kill bacteria, viruses, or fungi within 60 seconds and without any toxicity. This is phenomenal. Neutrox has demonstrated in vitro anti-toxin activity as well, also in solution. Q: Does Avenova offer a better approach, since it has shown in lab studies that it is antimicrobial in solution and non-toxic? Q: You have been using Avenova before and after cataract surgery. How is it working? A: I’m very enthusiastic. A: It’s a game-changer. Ultimately in other disease states as well. And using it for blepharitis or meibomian gland dysfunction [a cause of dry eye] is only the tip of the iceberg of what it is capable of. Q: You sound convinced that NovaBay is making breakthroughs in eye care?