Biotechnology company Destiny Pharma has received an award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to help the company advance its lead compound for cystic fibrosis patients who have been infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Destiny Pharma will establish a research project with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation where it will establish the potential of its XF-73 drug as a treatment for MRSA infected cystic fibrosis patients.
The project will have access to clinical isolates collected from people with cystic fibrosis and the work will be carried out by experienced researchers associated with the Foundation.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe. MRSA is becoming more common among the pathogenic bacteria that cause lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients. It’s thought that around 25% of people with the disease are infected with MRSA.1
MRSA produces several virulence factors and its presence in the respiratory tract is associated with significant lung damage. Being able to treat MRSA infections effectively could significantly help cystic fibrosis patients.
Destiny Pharma is currently preparing XF-73 for Phase III clinical development to prevent post-surgical Staphylococcal infections. The compound works via an ultra-rapid action, which kills bacteria (including antibiotic resistant strains), leaving them unable to mount a resistance response.2 Destiny Pharma states that it hasn’t identified an existing antibiotic resistance mechanism that displays resistance to XF-73. Therefore, the company hopes that the compound will be able to address important challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Official comments
Neil Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Destiny Pharma, said: “We are very excited to carry out this project with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The tailored research will allow us to demonstrate the potential of XF-73 in alleviating the suffering of thousands of MRSA-infected cystic fibrosis patients and is another programme derived from our proprietary XF platform.”
1: https://www.cff.org/managing-cf/methicillin-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus-mrsa
