Claims for Patent: 6,268,399

Summary for Patent: 6,268,399

Title:	Salal extracts having antimicrobial properties
Abstract:	Extracts of the common edible evergreen plant Gaultheria shallon, commonly known as salal, are shown to have bactericidal and fungicidal activity.
Inventor(s):	Hultine; J. Dustin (Portland, OR), Tsukamoto; Takuji (Bend, OR)
Assignee:	Menlo West, LLC (Portland, OR)
Application Number:	09/527,966
Patent Claims:	1. An antimicrobial composition comprising an effective amount of an antimicrobial agent comprising an extract of the plant Gaultheria shallon. 2. The composition of claim 1 wherein said antimicrobial agent is bactericidal. 3. The composition of claim 1 wherein said antimicrobial agent is fungicidal. 4. The composition of any of claims 1-3 wherein said extract is of a part of said plant selected from the group consisting of flowers, berries, leaves and mixtures thereof. 5. The composition of claim 4 wherein said extract is of flowers of said plant. 6. The composition of claim 4 wherein said extract is of berries of said plant. 7. The composition of claim 4 wherein said extract is of leaves of said plant. 8. The composition of any of claims 1-3 wherein said extract is an aqueous-based extract. 9. The composition of claim 8 wherein said extract is obtained by contact with an aqueous buffered solution. 10. A method of obtaining an antimicrobial agent comprising the following steps: (a) obtaining a portion of at least one plant part of the plant Gaultheria shallon; (b) sterilizing said plant portion; (c) rinsing said plant portion; (d) contacting said plant portion with an aqueous buffered solution to obtain a supernatant; (e) separating an antimicrobial agent-containing portion from said supernatant by filtration; and (f) drying said antimicrobial agent-containing portion. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein step (b) is conducted by contacting said plant portion with a hypochlorite solution. 12. The method of claim 10 wherein, following step (c), said plant portion is processed by a method selected from freezing and steaming. 13. The method of claim 12 wherein said freezing is conducted rapidly. 14. The method of claim 10 wherein said aqueous buffered solution of step (d) comprises tris-HCl and EDTA at pH 7.4. 15. The method of claim 10 wherein step (e) is conducted by dialysis. 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said dialysis membrane has a molecular weight cut-off of 3500 daltons. 17. The method of claim 10 wherein step (f) is conducted by vacuum drying. 18. The method of claim 10, including an additional step (g) of reconstituting said antimicrobial agent-containing portion with sterile water. 19. The method of claim 18, including an additional step (h) of further sterilizing said antimicrobial agent-containing portion. 20. The method of claim 19 wherein step (h) is conducted by microfiltration. 21. The product of the method of any of claims 10-13 or 15-17.

Details for Patent 6,268,399

Applicant	Tradename	Biologic Ingredient	Dosage Form	BLA	Approval Date	Patent No.	Expiredate
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.	ZOSTAVAX	zoster vaccine live	For Injection	125123	05/25/2006		2039-09-23