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The fight against hospital superbugs has been stepped up with the study of the oral antibiotic EDP-322, a first-in-class MRSA-active bicyclolide.
The novel macrolide-related drug has a distinct resistance profile, and the clinical development program will include the treatment of hospital and community-acquired gram-positive infections.
Enanta Pharmaceuticals said that EDP-322 has demonstrated strong in-vitro activity against hospital-acquired MRSA strains resistant to Vancomycin, Zyvox (linezolid), and Cubican (daptomycin).
Robert Moellering, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said: “Macrolides have been commonly prescribed to treat community infections for decades due to their convenient oral dosing and favourable safety profile.
“Now, with the discovery of a new generation of macrolides having high potency against hospital-acquired pathogens and a distinct resistance profile relative to other hospital antibiotics, there is a tremendous new opportunity to explore their use within not only the community, but the hospital setting as well.”
Enanta spokesman Yat Sun Or said, “In our in-vitro studies, EDP-322 demonstrated good potency against both hospital and community acquired MRSA, even against highly drug-resistant MRSA strains. The potency of EDP-322 against gram-positive pathogens has the potential to uniquely position EDP-322 among marketed MRSA drugs.”
Copyright PA Business 2008
