Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Pharming Group N.V. (EASDAQ: PHAR / AEX: PHAR) announces the publication of a paper entitled ``Human Lactoferrin and peptides derived from its N-terminus are highly effective against infections with antibiotic resistant bacteria'' in the scientific journal Infection and Immunity, published by the American Society for Microbiology. Scientists from the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Leiden University Medical Center and Pharming's Protein Chemistry group demonstrated that recombinant human Lactoferrin and peptides derived from the protein's N-terminus are highly effective in animal models against pathogenic bacterial strains, including the potentially life-threatening antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
These studies were designed to investigate whether hLF and related peptides can be used to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, which pose an increasingly important problem in hospitals. Currently, over 60,000 deaths per year in the U.S.A. are attributed to hospital-acquired infections. It was already known that human Lactoferrin (hLF) is capable of binding to bacteria. This led the group of scientists, under supervision of Dr. Peter H. Nibbering of the Leiden University Medical Center, to investigate hLF's bactericidal activity in relation to its molecular structure. The results from animal model studies revealed that both intact hLF and hLF-derived peptides are highly effective against infections with several antibiotic resistant S. aureus strains, including methicillin- and vancomycin-resistant strains and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
As part of Pharming's development program of recombinant hLF, the company has successfully completed a Phase I clinical study with intravenously administered recombinant hLF. The results of this study, in healthy volunteers, demonstrated that recombinant hLF is well tolerated up to very high doses (60 mg/kg), which offers opportunities for various applications, including treatment of serious infections.... |
