Imbed Biosciences, a medical device company that is developing advanced therapies for soft tissue repair, has received a $1.5 million, two-year Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, the University of Wisconsin announced today.

According to a release, the grant will help test whether adding gallium metal ions to an ultra-thin material carrying antimicrobial silver can defeat the “biofilms” that shield bacteria from antibiotics.

“Bacteria inside the biofilm are looking for more iron, so they end up taking up gallium,” ImBed CEO Ankit Agarwal said in a statement. “So in return for accepting a worthless ‘Trojan horse’, the bacteria are exposed to silver … and they will die.”

Silver plus gallium will be tested on full-thickness wounds in pigs in the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.

The biotech company closed a $2 million Series A funding round in April, and its product MicroLyte was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for marketing in the United States in August 2016.