PolyMedix's PMX-30063 First in Class Defensin-Mimetic Antibiotic Demonstrates Activity Against Drug-Resistant Bacterial Pathogens
Data Presented at ECCMID 2012 Meeting
RADNOR, Pa., April 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PolyMedix, Inc. (OTCBB:PYMX), a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative therapeutic drugs to treat serious acute-care conditions, announced today that its lead defensin-mimetic antibiotic, PMX-30063, has shown activity against 1,000 worldwide strains of Gram-positive staphylococci and streptococci clinical isolates, including strains resistant to linezolid, daptomycin, and methicillin. The data were presented at the 21st Annual European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ECCMID) in London, United Kingdom. The presentation is available on PolyMedix's website at www.Polymedix.com.
[ The activity of PMX-30063 against staphylococci and stretptococci]
"These important and encouraging data further substantiate the robust antimicrobial activity of PMX-30063 regardless of the existing mechanisms of resistance or geographic source of the isolates," commented Dr. Bozena Korczak, Vice President of Drug Development at PolyMedix. "This is the first time we are presenting to the scientific community PMX-30063's activity against worldwide multi-drug resistant strains of staphylococci and streptococci that are associated with skin and skin structure infections."
PMX-30063 is the first of a new class of antibiotics known as defensin-mimetics. It is a small molecule designed to mimic the activity of human host-defense proteins, the body's natural defense against bacterial infections. PMX-30063, like host-defense proteins, kills bacteria by directly targeting bacterial membranes and disrupting them. Widespread resistance to this mechanism of action has not developed despite being employed by humans and other organisms to fight deadly bacteria for millions of years. PMX-30063 has been successfully tested in three Phase 1 clinical studies and has now completed enrollment in a blinded and controlled Phase 2 trial in patients with Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infections caused by Staph aureus bacteria. Data from this study are expected in the first half of 2012. |
