Oragenics Inc. (OGEN)
Dr. John Bonfiglio is Chief Executive Officer and President of
Oragenics Inc. Most recently, Dr. Bonfiglio worked as the President
and Chief Executive Officer and as a director of Transdel
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to that he worked as the President and
Chief Executive Officer of Argos Therapeutics in Durham, NC and prior
to that he was the Chief Executive Officer of The Immune Response
Corporation in Carlsbad, CA. He was also the Chief Executive Officer
of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals and held senior management positions with
Cypress Biosciences, Baxter Healthcare and Allergan, Inc.
TWST: Please start us off with a brief overview of Oragenics'
business.
Mr. Bonfiglio: Oragenics has been involved since its inception
mostly in diseases of the mouth, and we are expanding now so that our
primary focus at this point in time is on antibiotics, in fact a novel
antibiotic that was actually discovered in the mouth from a group of
antibiotics called lantibiotics. We are currently in the process of
developing a lead compound to take forward into an IND and into human
clinical trials by the middle of 2015. We also have been involved for
a number of years in the sale of over-the-counter probiotic products
for oral care under the brand name Evora, and we have a patented blend
of three different types of bacteria that are designed specifically to
work in the mouth. The active proprietary blend is known by its trade
name of ProBiora3. We are currently selling those products through
dental offices and online and we also have a companion pet product
that goes along with it. In addition, through our relationship with
Intrexon, which I will be happy to talk about later, we are involved
