Destiny Pharma upbeat on new research paper on XF-73
Destiny Pharma
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Clinical-stage biotechnology company Destiny Pharma noted the publication of a new paper in Trends in Microbiology on Monday, entitled ‘assessing the potential for staphylococcus aureus to evolve resistance to XF-73’.
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The AIM-traded firm said the author, from the University of Oxford, concluded that data published to date supported the “unique target profile” of its lead drug candidate, XF-73, and its potential to address the threat of antimicrobial resistance.
It said the review looked at data from a number of established microbiology models that were used to evaluate the action of XF-73 in killing S. aureus, that were carried out previously by Destiny Pharma.
The paper concluded that the available evidence suggests that S. aureus had low potential to evolve resistance to XF-73, relative to antibiotics.
That conclusion, the board said, supported the company's own view that XF-73 had a “unique” resistance profile due to its novel, ultra-fast mechanism of action, that was a key advantage compared to typical antibiotics.
Professor Maclean, the paper's author, is a Wellcome Trust senior research fellow and professor of evolution and microbiology at the University of Oxford.
Destiny said research in the Maclean lab was focussed on understanding the evolutionary biology of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria, such as S. aureus.
“One of the key attributes of our lead drug candidate, XF-73, and our XF platform is the unique ‘no or low’ resistance profile when they are used to kill dangerous bacteria,” said chief executive officer Neil Clark.
“This new review supports this key component of our target product profile for XF-73.”
Clark said there remained a global need for new anti-infective drugs targeted at the prevention and treatment of serious infections.
“This has been highlighted further by the serious secondary bacterial infections complicating treatment in many Covid-19 patients.
“New drugs must also address the challenge of antimicrobial resistance, and we believe that our XF platform does just that.
“We look forward to reporting headline data from our current phase 2b study that is evaluating the potential of XF-73 nasal gel in the prevention of post-surgical infections.”
At 1523 BST, shares in Destiny Pharma were up 4.18% at 41.15p.