Wellcome Trust awards Summit £4m to further develop C. Difficile antibiotic
Phase I trial to start by end of the year with results expected in first half of 2013
UK drug discovery company Summit has extended its partnership with the Wellcome Trust through a translational research award worth up to £4m to support the development of SMT 19969 to clinical proof of concept studies. SMT 19969 is a novel, oral small molecule being developed as a specific antibiotic for the treatment of infections caused by C. difficile.
Under the terms of the award, Summit will be eligible for up to £4m in staged, success-based payments.
The Oxford-based firm will immediately receive £1.26m to support a Phase 1 clinical trial in healthy volunteers and additional non-clinical studies to enhance the clinical data package. The trial is expected to start by the end of this year with results available in the first half of 2013.
A successful outcome would trigger a further three payments from the Wellcome Trust, which will contribute significantly towards undertaking a Phase II proof of concept trial in patients.
‘This Wellcome Trust award endorses the potential of SMT 19969, and will provide non-dilutive funding to de-risk its development as it advances through important clinical milestones,’ said Glyn Edwards, chief executive at Summit.
Ted Bianco, director of technology transfer at the Wellcome Trust, said: ‘We are pleased to be extending our successful partnership with Summit and look forward to testing in the clinic the potential of the SMT 19969 drug.’
This award is the second that the Wellcome Trust has made to support Summit’s C. difficile antibiotic programme and follows an award made under the Seeding Drug Discovery Initiative in 2009. A new funding agreement has been signed under which the Wellcome Trust will share in net revenues generated by commercialisation of the programme.