Release date- 09082019 - YONKERS - ContraFect Corporation (Nasdaq: CFRX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of direct lytic agents (DLAs), including
lysins and amurin peptides, as a new modality for the treatment of life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2019.
Maxim analyst Jason McCarthy initiated ContraFect with a Buy rating and a price target of $2, citing the company's
lysins development efforts to become "a new class of non-antibiotic anti-infective that can mitigate drug resistance." The analyst notes that the valuation on the stock has been suppressed by the phase 2 trial study miss on the primary endpoint of responder rate, though that may have been due to "an imbalance in the number of left-sided endocarditis patients" in the study.
The contract has been signed to develop bacteriophage
lysins for the treatment of multidrug resistant Acinetobacter infections, a frequent cause of hospital-acquired pneumonia and life-threatening blood or wound infections.
NIAID's efforts were initiated by President Obama's National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, which directed governmental agencies to support research into the use of "phage and phage-derived
lysins to kill specific bacteria," as well as other nontraditional antibiotics.
Headquartered in Shanghai with laboratories in China and North America and manufacturing facilities in China and the US, Phagelux utilises phages,
lysins and other biologics and related delivery technologies to create antibacterial products and solutions through its agricultural and human health divisions.
Phage and their
lysins as biocontrol agents for food safety applications.
On the contrary,
lysins from phages that infect Gram-negative bacteria mainly present a globular structure and lack of cell wall-binding domain [90].
Quaternary ammonium groups, such as in VBA, are known to exhibit antimicrobial properties as they interact with the cell walls of certain types of bacteria and cause the destruction of cells by
lysins. This property in combination with the photo-induced immobilization of VBT monomers creates a host of possible applications for VBT-VBA copolymers, such as antimicrobial coatings in hospitals or antifouling agents on the exterior of boats and ships.
The development of drug-free biocontrol approaches to reduce the burden of bacterial pathogens on food animal production systems will become important for NE control and may include innate immune molecules with antimicrobial function, such as antimicrobial peptides, defensins, bacteriophages, bacteriophage
lysins, hyperimmune therapeutic antibodies, pre- and probiotics, bioactive phytochemicals, and other anti-virulence biotherapeutic alternatives.
The assets purchased include intellectual property for multiple
lysins and for the rapid development of
lysin solutions.
They also discuss other phage-based and phage-derived antibacterials including
lysins (lytic enzymes of bacteriophage origin), genetically engineered phages, and filamentous phages used as delivery vehicles for other antimicrobial compounds.