Briotech, UW Bothell, & PennState Present HPV & Oropharyngeal Cancer Research

Briotech, with the University of Washington and the Pennsylvania State University, is selected to attend the 2019 Greater New York Dental Conference (GNYD) where Dr. Jeff Williams, PhD and Briotech Chief Science Officer, will present research results on inactivation of infectious, cancer-causing HPV16 and HPV18 using (BrioHOCl™) hypochlorous acid in New York, NY.

Significance: More than 70% of oropharyngeal cancers are caused by high risk HPV. Infection rates range from 3-10%,⁶ and while most are eventually shed, some persist to cause cancerous lesions. Effective inactivation of HPV on surfaces in the dental office can clearly be accomplished using HOCl solutions that are safe for  topical application to skin and mucosa. This raises the potential for HOCl use not only as a disinfectant for dental environments, but also for direct applications to oral and other tissues, e.g., as an oral rinse.

Greater New York Dental Conference
November 29, 2019

Rapid High Level Inactivation of Infectious HPV16 and HPV18 Using Hypochlorous Acid (HOCl)

Introduction
High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV 16 & 18) are causal agents of cervical, anal, and oropharyngeal cancers.^1,2 Oral HPV infections and associated malignancies have increased alarmingly in recent years in the US, even as the rates of cervical cancer have begun to decline. Our previous studies using suspension and carrier tests demonstrated strikingly poor efficacy of common disinfectant agents in inactivating high-risk HPV (Table 1),³ even with FDA-approved chemical sterilants, such as GTA and OPA. The potential for iatrogenic transmission in healthcare environments, including dental offices,  from inadequate disinfection practices has therefore become a concern. Risk potentials and prior efficacy determinations have commonly been based on outdated criteria or inappropriate test systems.

Objective
To establish the efficacy of pure, stable preparations of HOCl (from Briotech Inc.) in the inactivation of HPV 16 & 18. Our approach to quantifying inactivation depends on use of large amounts of authentic infectious virus, and well-established methods of replication and testing of high-risk HPVs.

Results
HOCl treatment contact times generally and quickly produced >99.99% reduction in infectivity of HPV16 and HPV18, comparable to the efficacy of 0.87% sodium hypochlorite. Exposure of cell fractions enriched by vector expression of L1 and L2 capsid proteins of BPV to HOCl for 30 seconds resulted in rapid aggregation of these and other extracted proteins on SDS PAGE gels.

Conclusion
HOCl is a highly effective disinfectant for HPV 16 & 18, even after contact times as short as 15 seconds. Rapid changes in capsid proteins may be responsible for this decline.

Significance
More than 70% of oropharyngeal cancers are caused by high risk HPV. Infection rates range from 3-10%,6 and while most are eventually shed, some persist to cause cancerous lesions. Effective inactivation of HPV on surfaces in the dental office can clearly be accomplished using HOCl solutions that are safe for  topical application to skin and mucosa. This raises the potential for HOCl use not only as a disinfectant for dental environments, but also for direct applications to oral and other tissues, e.g., as an oral rinse.

Full Abstract