Efficacy of XF-70 Demonstrated: A Potential New Agent for the Treatment of Fungal Skin Infections
Brighton, United Kingdom – 18 June 2024 – Destiny Pharma (AIM: DEST), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialisation of novel medicines to prevent and cure life threatening infections, today announced new data on one of its XF Drug Platform compounds, XF-70, which has demonstrated potency in an in vivo model of ringworm, a common fungal skin infection, which affects up to one in four people worldwide.
Ringworm is caused by a class of fungi called dermatophytes and are the causative agents of topical fungal infections. XF-70 is a member of a novel class of antimicrobial drugs (the XF Drug Platform) that have been shown to have a rapid bactericidal activity even within biofilms, and is structurally related to the company’s leading drug, XF-73 which is being developed for the prevention of post-surgical staphylococcal infections (a clinical Phase 3 ready asset).
- When applied to the skin in the ringworm model XF-70 demonstrated a highly significant anti-fungal efficacy, (p = <0.0001) compared to untreated control.
- XF-70 recorded an anti-fungal efficacy of 94.9% at the highest concentration tested.
- Histopathological examination demonstrated fungi in the skin sections obtained from untreated skin, but not in skin sections obtained from any of the XF-70 treatment groups.
This data has been accepted as a presentation at the forthcoming Irish Fungal Society meeting at Queen’s University Belfast 19-20 June 2024.
As reported by Future Market Insights in January 2023 “The global ringworm treatment market is expected to reach US$ 8.38 Billion in 2023 and is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 5.2% from 2023 to 2033. The high prevalence of skin diseases and the high incidence of ringworm are the major factors driving the global market for ringworm treatments”. [1]
Destiny Pharma plans to extend its research into anti-fungal medicine development to identify additional market opportunities where there is significant unmet clinical need and resistance to existing drug products.
Chris Tovey, Chief Executive Officer of Destiny Pharma, said: “This XF-70 data presents an exciting opportunity for Destiny Pharma to address a growing patient need, while demonstrating the expanded utility of the XF Drug Platform to deliver novel antimicrobial drugs which can be used to treat both bacterial and fungal infections. The positive in vivo data and its acceptance at the Irish Fungal Society meeting is further validation of Destiny’s XF Drug Platform and its pivotal role in the battle against antimicrobial resistance.”
Dr Bill Love, Chief Scientific Officer of Destiny Pharma added: “We reported last year significant findings of anti-fungal activity of drugs from the XF Platform and we are encouraged that XF-70’s in vitro potency has translated into an in vivo fungal infection. Fungal resistance to anti-fungal drugs is less well known than antibiotic resistance, however it is of global concern and the development of novel anti-fungal drugs is equally important in addressing the impact of antimicrobial resistance.”
Full Press Release available here.