AlgalAid® is an FDA monograph compliant treatment for cold sores and fever blisters containing <1% menthol as an active topical analgesic ingredient. This sample of AlgalAid contains 25% Blue Moon Marine Botanical Extract at ph 5.6, deionized water, emu oil (10%), pure grain alcohol, kosher glycerin, organic aloe vera, iota carrageenan, allantoin, stevia, rosemary oil extract, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate and citric acid.

This extract is formulated for this batch of AlgalAid based on the in vitro analysis of the constituent plants against HSV1 Strain F (#VR-733.) These plants include 4 spp of marine red algae collected from Lower Cook Inlet in Alaska and the Strait of Juan de Fuca in British Columbia. This dynamic approach to cold sore treatment formulation allows us to utilize the natural diversity of antiviral compounds found in these plants to confront the diversity of herpetic pathogens.

The antiviral action of the sulfated polysaccharide cell wall constituents has been documented since 1958. They are involved in ion exchange, cell wall rigidity manipulation, in forming highly specific secondary pit connections between cells and in the cellular recognition required to guide a complex fertilization mechanism of non-motile male gametes. The polysaccharides are a complex mix of galactans with structures based on linear chains of  carrageenans and agars with branching substitutions of sulfate groups.

There was an early understanding that these compounds present a high density negative charge with sulfate residues that fit and interact with the cationic charged domains of the viral glycoproteins. It has since been found that, in the case of HSV, there are five viral glycoproteins involved in the binding, attachment and fusion of HSV with the host cell wall. The polysulfate’s main effect is on the specific interaction between the viruses ‘gC’ glycoprotein and heparin sulfate receptors on the host cell surface and variations of this attachment.

These compounds have been reported[1] to show invitro efficacy for a wide spectrum of enveloped viruses such as retroviruses (HIV1&2), herpes simplex virus (HSV 1&2), varicella zoster virus (VZV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), human papilloma virus (Hpv), pseudorabis virus (PrV), flaviviruses (dengue virus type 2), poxviruses (vaccinia virus), hepdanaviruses (hepatitis B virus (HBV)), orthomoxoviruses (influenza A virus (inf A)) and others.

There is also a high selectivity of viral action in cell cultures, as low as .01 to 1 µg/mL with very low cytotoxicity. The serial passage in cell cultures of viruses in the presence of increasing concentrations of sulfated polysaccharides show these compounds to be slow, though existent, inducers of viral drug resistance, but at much lower rates that other antivirals. The sulfated polysaccharides found in AlgalAid have been found to be inhibitory to acyclovir (ACV) resistant strains of HSV1. Several carrageenans have recently been the subject of phase 3 clinical trials in Africa and the red algal derived protein, griffithsin, is the leading candidate as a second generation HIV microbicide.

This batch of AlgalAid contains the following plants and life history phases: Turnerella mertensiana- gametic , Neodilsea borealis- tetrasporic, Cryptosiphonia woodii -gametic Constantinea rosa marina- carposporic. These particular algal species have been used by compounding pharmacists in Alaska for over 25 years without adverse incident.  Our extraction techniques employ sonification to disintegrate the cell walls and centrifugation to separate and isolate active fractions.

Ongoing laboratory quality assurance determines the lack of cytotoxicity and adequate antiviral inhibitory concentrations for each batch and well as GMP QC requirements for  microbial, pesticide and heavy metal contamination.

Red algae contain a variety of sulfated polysaccharides. Given the variation of the plants we incorporate in the extracts, their life history phases and the suite of active compounds found in each whole plant extract, our algal extracts are effective against a wider range of HSV strains than any single synthetic compound found in other cold sore topical treatments.  Blue Moon Marine conducts ongoing, randomized, double blind, active controlled, clinical surveys to demonstrate this and uses these results to continually improve the efficacy of AlgalAid®.

[1] Damonte, Elsa B.; et al, Sulfated Seaweed Polysaccharides as Antiviral Agents. Current Medicinal Chemistry, 2004, 11, 2399- 2419