Destiny Pharma has been given £1.6 million to research their XF drugs to prevent, control and eradicate life-threatening bacteria, or “superbugs’, without generating resistance. The grant has been awarded by a collaboration established under the UK-China antimicrobial resistance (AMR) fund. This was set up by Innovate UK and the Department of Health and Social Care with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.
The project will run for two years and research will be carried out by Destiny Pharma’s team in collaboration with expert groups at Cardiff University and a team at Tianjin Medical University, China.
Professor David Williams, Cardiff University, who will lead the Cardiff team said: “The widespread emergence of antimicrobial resistance in recent years has highlighted the need for alternative and effective antimicrobial agents. We, therefore, feel that the XF drug platform from Destiny Pharma provides timely and significant tools in our armoury against antimicrobial resistance.”
The new UK-China AMR programme seeks to extend the knowledge base and activity profile of these novel drugs. It will also evaluate combining XF-drugs with existing antibiotics to synergise and/or restore their efficacy against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Data generated will help develop medicines that address the growth of bacterial resistance either as a single drug or restore the efficacy of ‘ineffective’ antibiotics by combination therapy.
Destiny Pharma’s XF-drugs have already shown potential to address antimicrobial resistance and combat bacterial biofilms in a range of bacteria, including MRSA. Destiny Pharma is due to commence a key Phase 2b study for XF-73, its lead asset, in 2019 for the prevention of post-surgical staphylococcal infections.