Denver firm to test eczema cream
A Denver-based biotechnology company is looking at ways to treat eczema in children without using steroids. Ceragenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. said last week that it will begin a study of its topical cream Epiceram to see if it works just as well on eczema as a midstrength steroid application.
The study is scheduled to begin this month and will take place at private dermatology offices in Santa Rosa, Calif., and Trenton, N.J. Epiceram has already received marketing clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Epiceram works differently than steroids, as it helps rebuild lipids in the skin that act as a barrier from harmful elements, said Ceragenix chairman and chief executive Steven Porter.
“If you take these lipids in a very specific molecular ratio and apply that topically, the skin rebuilds itself and stops the inflammatory and immune-system response,” he said. “It allows you to have healthy skin without using toxic steroids.”
Ceragenix is a publicly traded company formed in 2005 with a market capitalization of $34.2 million. The company has five employees and is doing preclinical research on a topical antibiotic that can kill influenza viruses.
Charge your iPod on the plane
With airline perks going the way of the dodo, here’s one way to get a little extra for the price of your ticket. The Inflight Power recharger uses the trickle of electricity coming from your airplane seat’s headphone jack to charge iPods and other portable devices.
The Inflight Power cable has a headphone plug on one end and a USB jack on the other. When plugged into your seat’s headphone jack, the cable turns the electricity coming from the plane’s audio system into usable power. Adapters compatible with iPods, BlackBerries and any of about 700 other devices allow you to recharge almost any hand-held gadget. Your devices will charge much more slowly than when connected to a regular outlet, but if the flight is long enough, that may not matter.
The cables start at $35 for a basic USB jack similar to the ones found on laptops and PCs. A version that includes an iPod adapter costs $45. The cables and adapters are available online at www.inflightpower.com.