ContraFect Corporation (NASDAQ:CFRX), a late clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of direct lytic agents (DLAs), including lysins and amurin peptides, as new medical modalities for the treatment of life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections, today announced the publication of two manuscripts that demonstrate the potent in vivo activity of CF-296, a novel engineered lysin agent with potent bactericidal and anti-biofilm activity against Staphylococcus aureus (Staph aureus), a life-threatening pathogen.
“This new research data demonstrates the potential of CF-296, our novel engineered variant of exebacase, our lead lysin product candidate currently in an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial. As we continue to develop the profile of this product candidate, we are evaluating multiple potential indications for clinical development, including Staph aureus osteomyelitis and prosthetic joint infections, particularly difficult-to-treat, potentially disabling infections, where novel treatments are greatly needed,” said Cara Cassino, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development at ContraFect.
The manuscript published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a leading peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the study of infectious diseases, presents laboratory data from a study of CF-296 in a preclinical rodent model of acute methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA) osteomyelitis. The analysis of bone samples demonstrated that CF-296 has potent anti-staphylococcal activity and, when used with daptomycin, is active and well tolerated in MRSA acute osteomyelitis.
In a second manuscript published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, CF-296 demonstrated the efficacy of CF-296, both as a mono therapy and in addition to standard-of-care antibiotics, in a preclinical murine Staph aureus infection model. Of note, the addition of CF-296 to both daptomycin or vancomycin resulted in significantly enhanced antibacterial activity in the model, relative to the activity of these standard-of-care antibiotics alone.
ContraFect continues to evaluate CF-296 in further preclinical studies and the potential for future clinical development. CF-296 was developed by ContraFect and the Company is actively pursuing global rights to this investigational development candidate.
