Anti-MRSA 'Super-drug' Secures Funding to Phase II Clinical Trials

Main Category: MRSA / Drug Resistance
Article Date: 20 Nov 2005 - 22:00 PDT

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The world's first light-activated drug designed to combat hospital superbugs, including MRSA, has just secured funding through to early clinical development. Destiny Pharma Ltd, the company behind the XF drug has secured £3 million of additional investment to take development through to Phase II Clinical Development.

Destiny Pharma's patented XF drugs are designed to selectively attack and eliminate bacteria; laboratory tests have confirmed they are highly potent and effective against all tested strains of Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA and resistant strains15 and 16. Independent laboratories have confirmed that the compounds are highly potent bacterocidals with an MIC of 0.06 _g/ml against MRSA. The efficacy and safety of the XF drugs has been demonstrated in studies in-vivo, which show that XF is able to eradicate 99.99% of MRSA at concentrations where no safety issues are observed.

Unlike antibiotics the XF drugs bind to every part of the bacteria, rather than to a specific receptor, lowering the potential to mutate into a resistant strain. Studies in-vitro confirm that unlike the case with traditional antibiotics, the bacteria have an extremely low propensity to evolve resistance, opening the prospect of using the XF drugs prophylactically to prevent life-threatening hospital infections.

The cost of treating patients in hospital who become infected with bacteria is already estimated at some $30 billion ($92,000 per infected patient for MRSA infection) in the US alone, and the numbers are rising.

Most hospital infections arise as a result of patients bringing in the MRSA in nasal colonies; by eliminating these colonies on patients entering hospital and from hospital staff, potential levels of infection can be significantly reduced.

Destiny Pharma initiated its XF programme four years ago and has developed a range of XF molecules that are active against a range of bacteria (both gram negative and gram positive) and has identified a lead compounds for further development. The recently secured investment gained from shareholders including Novartis will enable Destiny Pharma to start clinical evaluation in 2006.

Destiny Pharma believes the market for XF in the prevention of hospital infections alone to be worth in excess of $1 billion, and the product also has the potential to be used to treat a wide range of dermatological infections. The company will be seeking to license the drug to a major pharmaceutical company for Phase III development and commercialisation worldwide.

Destiny Pharma's founder and chief executive Dr Bill Love said: "If the next set of clinical trials are successful, then XF products will be available to help prevent MRSA hospital infections as well as offering treatment for a number of 'soft tissue' infections involving skin, ears, eyes and dental conditions. XF is currently designed to be active against superbugs on the skin. Our next generation XF compounds will be designed to fight superbugs within the body."

About Destiny Pharma

Destiny Pharma is an anti-Infectives pharmaceutical company, founded in the UK in 1997 by three pharmaceutical executives. Destiny Pharma's primary focus is the XF-series of photodynamic drugs, which are being developed to prevent and treat conditions related to hospital 'Superbugs' such as MRSA. Destiny is based at Sussex University near Brighton in the UK.

Destiny Pharma Ltd.
at the Sussex Innovation Centre
Science Park Square, Falmer
Brighton, BN1 9SB
United Kingdom
Email:enquiries@destiny-pharma.demon.co.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 1273 704 440
Fax: +44 (0) 1273 704 499
www.destiny-pharma.demon.co.uk

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