(Alliance News) - Biotechnology firm Destiny Pharma PLC on Monday said a review has found its XF-73 drug candidate has low susceptibility to antimicrobial resistance when fighting infections.
The data, outlined in a peer reviewed journal, aimed to see whether the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium could "evolve resistance to XF-73".
Destiny Pharma added: "The review looked at data from a number of established microbiology models that were used to evaluate the action of XF-73 in killing S.aureus that were carried out previously by Destiny Pharma. The paper concluded that the available evidence suggests that S. aureus has low potential to evolve resistance to XF-73 relative to antibiotics.
"This conclusion supports the company's own view that XF-73 has a unique resistance profile due to its novel, ultra-fast mechanism of action that is a key advantage compared to typical antibiotics."
The paper was published by a researcher at the University of Oxford.
Destiny Pharma Chief Executive Officer Neil Clark said: "There remains a global need for new anti-infective drugs targeted at the prevention and treatment of serious infections. This has been highlighted further by the serious secondary bacterial infections complicating treatment in many Covid-19 patients. New drugs must also address the challenge of anti-microbial resistance, and we believe that our XF platform does just that."
Shares in the company were trading 3.4% higher at 40.85 pence each in London on Monday afternoon.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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Destiny Pharma. (DEST)