(Alliance News) - Destiny Pharma PLC shares soared on Tuesday after new data showed XF-73, its leading antibacterial drug, to be effective against over 2,500 Staphylococcus isolates, including resistant strains.
The stock was up 23% at 59.00 pence in London late on Tuesday morning.
The biotechnology company, focused on developing and commercialising medicines for life-threatening infections, said the resulting paper, 'Screening of the novel antimicrobial drug XF-73 against 2,527 Staphylococcus species clinical isolates', was published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular & Infection Microbiology.
The study, which Destiny Pharma said was the largest of its kind to date, examined the efficacy of XF-73 or exeporfinium chloride against Staphylococcus isolates from 33 countries. The isolates encompassed 16 species of the bacteria including resistant strains from patient infections like hospital-acquired pneumonia.
Destiny Pharma said XF-73 was deemed effective or "potent" against all 2,527 isolates tested, including all antibiotic resistance mechanisms, and against 840 MRSA clinical isolates.
Destiny Pharma said the "critical" data supported the urgency of the drug's development and need for regulatory approval due to its "exceptionally broad potency", not to mention its "significant commercial opportunity".
The company added that the study showed XF-73's potential to improve standard of care nasal antibiotics, the shortcomings of which "contribute to the global rise in Staphylococcus aureus antibiotic resistance".
"The World Health Organisation has declared antimicrobial resistance to be one of the top ten global public health threats facing humanity," commented Chief Executive Officer Chris Tovey. "These new findings underscore the transformative potential of XF-73 nasal not only to prevent post-surgical infection of a vast range of staphylococcal strains but also, critically, to be effective against all S. aureus tested antibiotic resistant strains."
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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