Redx Pharma cheers with progress on potential MRSA drug

Redx shares jumped on the news it has reached the pre-clinical development stage with a new anti-infective compound designed to tackle MRSA, the bacteria that causes potentially lethal infections in humans.The pharmaceutical firm said the progress marked a "significant milestone" for its commercial partnership with the NHS. The compound is a member of the first new potential class of antibiotics to emerge in a generation and will be the first to progress through the development pathway established between Redx and the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust under the terms of their partnership."Redx's compound demonstrates excellent oral efficacy and has the potential to be easily administered both in the wider community and in a hospital setting," Redx said."This is in contrast to current treatment for MRSA, which typically requires in-hospital treatment with antibiotics available only in an injectable form."It is the third Redx programme to identify a drug development candidate since the start of the year.The next stage of development will be for the compound to undergo pre-clinical testing, after which it will go into clinical development within the hospital for testing on humans.Redx will then be responsible for the onward licensing of the candidate drug to a pharmaceutical partner for further development and commercialisation.Chief executive Dr Neil Murray said: "We're very excited by the possibilities presented by the discovery of this compound, which could have global implications in the fight against drug resistant infections. "The lack of new drugs to target drug-resistant infections is a critical issue, as is finding more efficient ways to administer them to patients."