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(Alliance News) - Destiny Pharma PLC on Tuesday said it has been awarded a grant along with the University of Sheffield for their research collaboration on drug-resistant infections.
Shares in Destiny were up 9.1% at 42.00 pence in London in afternoon trade.
The grant was awarded by the National Biofilms Innovation Centre and will fund research conducted by Destiny and the Sheffield Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance & Biofilms at the University of Sheffield.
The project is intended to determine the potential of Destiny's DPD-207 and XF-73 drug compounds as treatments for drug resistant fungal and bacterial infections in a model of the eye.
A number of eye infections are the result of microbes forming a biofilm - where microorganisms stick together - and these are harder to treat with conventional antibiotics. This problem is worsening given that antimicrobial resistance is on the rise.
Destiny Chief Neil Clark said: "We are excited to collaborate with the expert team at the University of Sheffield as we look to initiate our second research project in biofilms supported by the National Biofilms Innovation Centre. The project will explore the utility of our novel XF drug platform in the treatment of eye infections involving biofilms.
"Biofilms represent a significant barrier to antimicrobial treatment and this collaboration may help us identify additional clinical candidates for ocular indications in a billion-dollar market that are safe, effective and with a significantly reduced level of antimicrobial resistance. The project in part will further explore the potential of our lead drug, XF-73, which is also currently in phase 2b clinical development for the prevention of post-surgical infections."
