British scientists at Brighton-based drug development company Destiny Pharma have received further confirmation from peers that their leading compound marks a new class of antibacterial that may not be susceptible to antibiotic resistance pathways.

This breakthrough is detailed in the latest edition of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (JAC) in the peer-reviewed paper, entitled ‘XF-73, a novel anti-staphylococcal membrane-active agent with rapid bactericidal activity’. It shows that Professor Ian Chopra’s research team at the University of Leeds in conjunction with Destiny Pharma have established that the XF-drugs have unique properties and that Destiny Pharma’s XF-73 drug kills harmful bacteria in an entirely new and different way to traditional antibiotics.

XF-73 is able to kill bacteria by a lethal interaction with the bacteria’s membrane causing it to die within minutes. In extensive laboratory tests scientists have been unable to force the emergence of bacterial resistance to the new compound, unlike antibiotics, where antibiotic-resistant strains quickly emerged.

The development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics and development of multi-drug resistant bacteria is recognised as a major healthcare threat. The 150th Chief Medical Officer’s report by Sir Liam Donaldson noted that for some infectious diseases we are at the last line of defence with no new antibiotics available.

Within the last month a report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) highlighted both the urgent need for new antibacterial agents to combat the threat posed by the emergence of multi-drug resistance bacteria and the lack of new compounds in development.

CEO of Destiny Pharma, Dr Bill Love, explains further:
“We recognise the need to develop new drugs to combat the emergence of new and existing Superbugs and are delighted with these new findings which clearly show that XF-73 is distinct from all other antimicrobial classes.

The first planned application for XF-73 is for clearing hospital patients of MRSA and clinical trials are underway. MRSA decolonisation is a very important MRSA infection prevention approach which is under threat due to antibiotic resistance. There have already been examples from other countries, such as the USA, Canada and New Zealand where the MRSA resistance rate to mupirocin (the only antibiotic currently used for MRSA decolonisation) has already risen. In some cases resistance is so high that the antibiotics have become impotent against MRSA. The concern is that this could start happening in NHS hospitals given that the new ‘screen & decolonise’ MRSA policy will mean a more widespread use of mupirocin.

If XF medicines enter use within hospitals they will represent the first completely new class of antibacterial drug for quite some time. This will enable the healthcare gain of fewer MRSA infections and slow the emergence of new MRSA strains.”

To view a copy of ‘XF-73, a novel antistaphylococcal membrane-active agent with rapid bactericidal activity’ please visit: http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/dkp299
 

For more information:
http://www.destinypharma.com/