Polyphor starts project for inhaled antibiotic therapy for chronic infections

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13.10.2017
Lung

Polyphor develops an inhaled dosage form of its novel breakthrough antibiotic Murepavadin. To support and accelerate the development, Polyphor will leverage a European program dedicated to the development of inhaled antibiotics, iABC. The project will receive funding from Polyphor and the IMI to develop new, life-saving antibiotic treatments to manage chronic lung infection.

The iABC project is a Europe-wide program run by a consortium of leading lung specialists in 18 hospitals and research institutions in eight European countries. These institutions will receive up to EUR 5 million funding for this project from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private partnership of EFPIA and the EU, while Polyphor will invest up to EUR 5 million. The two industry partners are Polyphor and Novartis.

Respiratory infections, especially those caused by drug-resistant bacteria, are the main cause of disease and death in people with cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis. Thanks to inhaled anti­biotics, patients now live longer than ever before and enjoy a better quality of life. However, additional treatment options are needed to reduce the bacterial load and fight resistant patho­gens - and especially resistant Pseudomonasstrains.

Murepavadin (POL7080) is the first representative of the Outer Membrane Protein Targeting Antibiotics (OMPTA), a class of antibiotics against Gram-negative bacteria with a novel mode of action discovered by Polyphor. It is a precision antibiotic specifically targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa, one of the most difficult to treat pathogens, and is highly potent and active also against multi-drug resistant strains.

Pivotal studies of Murepavadin's intravenous formulation will be initiated in the first months of 2018 for the treatment of patients with nosocomial pneumonia (Ventilator-associated and hospital-acquired pneumonia; VAP/HAP) caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, including its resistant strains. The inhaled formulation of Murepavadin could extend the therapy to the treatment of chronic infections by Pseudomonas aeruginosa - affecting for example over 60% of the adult patients with cystic fibrosis and many of those with non-CF bronchiectasis and other rare lung diseases.

Professor Stuart Elborn, Professor of respiratory medicine at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London and Principal Investigator, said: "Our work in the iABC project has the potential to deliver new inhaled antibiotics that will improve the quality of life and survival of patients with cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis by reducing the number of lung infections, improving lung function, and overcoming antibacterial resistance."

Giacomo Di Nepi, Chief Executive Officer of Polyphor, said: "Cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis patients are a vulnerable group. They are at particular risk of chronic infection. We are pleased and honored to be selected as one of two industry partners of the iABC consortium to develop an inhaled formulation of Murepavadin as a new treatment option. Our investigational antibiotic reaches high concentration in the lung and shows a high efficacy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the main cause of chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis, affecting the majority of patients."

About IMI iABC
IMI is a partnership between the EU and the European pharmaceutical industry
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is the world's biggest public-private initiative in life sciences aiming to improve health by speeding up the development of, and patient access to, the next generation of medicines, particularly in areas of unmet medical or societal need. IMI is a joint undertaking between the European Union and the pharmaceutical industry asso­ci­ation EFPIA (European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations).

IMI supports collaborative research projects and builds networks of industrial and academic ex­perts in order to boost pharmaceutical innovation in Europe. Through the IMI 2 program, IMI has a budget of EUR 3.3 billion for the period 2014 to 2024. Half of this comes from EU's research and innovation program, Horizon 2020. The other half is committed mostly by EFPIA companies.

The iABC (inhaled Antibiotics in Bronchiectasis and Cystic Fibrosis) project is part of New Drugs for Bad Bugs (ND4BB) program to develop new antibiotic treatments to manage chronic lung infections and will also establish the first European patient register for bronchiectasis, providing a platform to improve the quality of care for patients across Europe. It is a EUR 50 million pan-European project launched in 2015 funded by the European Commission through IMI and the EFPIA and involves leading lung specialists from 20 organizations in eight European countries including industry partners Polyphor and Novartis.

(Press release/ran)

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