LONDON (Alliance News) - Destiny Pharma PLC said Thursday it had been jointly granted funding with the University of Southampton to examine the use of its technology to eradicate clinical infections caused by bacterial biofilms.
The National Biofilms Innovation Centre granted Destiny and Southampton University the funding to develop a project on the use of the XF compound developed by Destiny to "prevent, control, and eradicate chronic clinical infections with underlying biofilm involvement."
The formation of bacterial biofilms in wounds was described as a "key" factor in the inability of antibiotics to successfully treat infections. It is estimated biofilm infections cost the US healthcare market USD94 billion each year, and the UK National Health Service around GBP1.0 billion a year.
"Destiny Pharma's XF series show exciting promise and activity against bacterial biofilms," NBIC Co-Director Jeremy Webb said. "The NBIC funding will be used to accelerate the development of these compounds using clinically relevant biofilm models for chronic wound infections, including diabetic foot ulcers and within cystic fibrosis respiratory infection, to fill an important need in the treatment of antibiotic tolerant infections."
No financial details were provided on the funding.
"We are excited to collaborate with the expert team at the University of Southampton," Destiny Chief Executive Officer Neil Clark said. "The collaboration will further explore the utility of our XF drug platform in the treatment of infections involving biofilms."
"As we have previously commented," Clark added, "biofilms represent a significant barrier to antimicrobial treatment and this collaboration may help us identify additional clinical candidates that are safe, effective and with a significantly reduced level of antimicrobial resistance."
Shares in Destiny were 2.7% higher at 75.00 pence on Thursday.
Destiny Pharma. (DEST)