Covira Surgical is a biotech firm to watch for their encouraging post-op infection treatment

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From drug costs to care procedures to government oversight agencies, there are few aspects of American life more regulated by legislators than the medical field. 

While the constant scrutiny is intended to make healthcare and hospitals safer, the truest saver of lives when it comes to potentially deadly post surgical infections could actually end up coming from the other side of that sometimes-contentious struggle: a medical innovator with a brilliant new idea.

Biotech firm, Covira Surgical, is now guiding its first creation through the arduous approval process, a formulation that could have an life-changing impact on the rapidly escalating number of infections striking patients following surgery. 

For patients at hospitals of all types under the care of any number of qualified surgeons, more virulent bacteria and less effective means to combat them are driving an upturn in the rate of post-op infections, accounting for almost 300,000 such cases each year in the U.S.

Those cases aren’t just a minor complication either. Infections setting in within 30 days of a procedure can add another 10 days to a hospital stay, make it five times more likely a patient will have to return to the hospital later, and cost all levels of the U.S. healthcare system an extra $34 billion in added treatment.

With more than 270,000 deaths per year attributed to sepsis that most often springs from bacterial infections, Dr. John Alverdy has made infection-related postoperative complications his life’s work. After 30 years of study, the University of Chicago-based surgeon helped form Covira to produce his answer to that problem, an effective product that keys on preventing destructive pathogens from running rampant in the gut microbiome of a recovering patient.

This creation is Pi-PEG, a tasteless prescription medication that a surgical patient can drink both before and after they have their surgery. It’s a stark contrast with antibiotics, which remain the most common method for trying to attack harmful bacteria. While strong antibiotics can kill bacteria, as well as weaken the body in the process, Pi-PEG takes a more restorative approach.

The formula actually works to strengthen a patient’s gut health, fostering improved natural defenses against the effects of an infection. Meanwhile, it also stimulates the body’s creation of phosphate, which serves as a natural restriction on bacterial growth and spread. Pi-PEG doesn’t kill bacteria, but it does inhibit its virulence enough to render it most harmless, allowing the body to continue to build strength, push back against the infection, and help the patient recover normally. 

After encouraging results from small animal studies as well as over 200 peer review bodies, Pi-PEG is now undergoing a year-plus long effort to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration permission to begin live human trials. In addition to helping patients heal, the future is bright for Covira Surgical itself behind their new medication, leading to a projection of $2.2 billion in revenue by 2037.

For as little as $250, potentially interested investors can check out specifics on Covira Surgical via StartEngine and determine if they want to join the crowdfunding effort and diversify their portfolios.

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