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 new medical modalities for
the treatment of life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections,
announces today the presentation by Dr. Tristan Ferry of the
Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit, Croix-Rousse Hospital,
Hôspices Civils de Lyon in Lyon, France at the 40th Annual Meeting
of the European Bone and Joint Infection Society, held in Graz,
Austria from September 8-10, 2022, of data from a single center,
exploratory, open-label prospective study using a minimally
invasive LysinDAIR procedure in patients with chronic knee
prosthetic joint infection (PJI), due to coagulase-negative
staphylococci (CoNS), with two different clinical presentations and
treatment paradigms.
“The positive clinical data demonstrated in
these patients underpins the potential to prosecute exebacase in a
blinded clinical study of patients with chronic or recurrent
prosthetic joint infections caused by MRSA or coagulase-negative
Staph,” stated Roger J. Pomerantz, M.D., ContraFect’s President,
Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman. “I am particularly impressed
with the durability of patient responses to therapy, in some cases
out to 36 months, allowing patients to avoid expensive and
potentially debilitating joint removal and reimplantation,” added
Dr. Pomerantz.
The presentation outlines the results from two
cohorts, each consisting of four patients with chronic CoNS knee
PJI (i.e., infections of longer than three months prior to
treatment), who each received the LysinDAIR procedure (arthroscopic
debridement with retention of the implant, followed by
intra-articular administration of exebacase and systemic antibiotic
therapy).
The first cohort included patients suffering
their first episode of CoNS knee PJI. The Lysin DAIR procedure was
followed by three months of clindamycin and levofloxacin. Exebacase
was well tolerated by all patients. No local or systemic serious
adverse events (SAEs) related to exebacase were reported. The
patients, through follow up periods of up to 36 months, have
experienced no relapse of infection, no recurrence of the joint
effusion and no loosening of the prostheses.
The second cohort included patients suffering
from a complex episode of multi-drug resistant CoNS knee PJI. The
LysinDAIR procedure was followed by three months of antibiotics
plus additional suppressive antimicrobial therapy. Exebacase was
well tolerated by all patients. No local or systemic SAEs related
to exebacase were reported. Two patients, through follow up periods
of up to 12 months, have experienced no relapse of infection, no
recurrence of the joint effusion and no loosening of the
prostheses. One patient experienced a relapse of infection of
Staphylococcus caprae after six months. One patient died from an
unrelated COVID-19 infection.
The authors concluded that the minimally
invasive LysinDAIR procedure was easy to perform, well tolerated,
and may have therapeutic potential to facilitate the success of
salvage therapy for chronic relapsing CoNS prosthetic knee
infections. Randomized clinical trials evaluating the LysinDAIR
procedure in these patients are clearly warranted.
The meeting presentation referenced above will
be available on the ContraFect website.
About ContraFect:
ContraFect is a biotechnology company focused on
the discovery and development of DLAs, including lysins and amurin
peptides, as new medical modalities for the treatment of
life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections. An estimated
700,000 deaths worldwide each year are attributed to
antimicrobial-resistant infections. We intend to address life
threatening infections using our therapeutic product candidates
from our platform of DLAs, which include lysins and amurin
peptides. Lysins are a new class of DLAs which are recombinantly
produced antimicrobial proteins with a novel mechanism of action
associated with the rapid killing of target bacteria, eradication
of biofilms and synergy with conventional antibiotics. Amurin
peptides are a novel class of DLAs which exhibit broad-spectrum
activity against a wide range of antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative
pathogens, including P. aeruginosa, Acinetobacter
baumannii, and Enterobacter species. We believe that the
properties of our lysins and amurin peptides will make them
suitable for targeting antibiotic-resistant organisms, such as MRSA
and P. aeruginosa, which can cause serious infections such as
bacteremia, pneumonia and osteomyelitis. We have completed a Phase
2 clinical trial for the treatment of Staph
aureus bacteremia, including endocarditis, with our lead lysin
candidate, exebacase, which is the first lysin to enter clinical
studies in the U.S. Exebacase was granted Breakthrough Therapy
designation by the FDA for the treatment of MRSA bloodstream
infections, including right-sided endocarditis, when used in
addition to SOC anti-staphylococcal antibiotics.
Follow ContraFect on
Twitter @ContraFectCorp and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains, and our officers
and representatives may make from time to time, “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws.
Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as
“projects,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “believes,”
“expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,”
“potential,” “promise” or similar references to future periods.
Examples of forward-looking statements in this release include,
without limitation, statements regarding the presentation, study
results, statements made by Dr. Pomerantz, ContraFect’s ability to
discover and develop DLAs as new medical modalities for the
treatment of life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections,
whether the LysinDAIR procedure will have therapeutic potential to
facilitate the success of salvage therapy for chronic relapsing
CoNS prosthetic knee infections, whether ContraFect will address
life-threatening infections using therapeutic candidates from its
DLA platform, whether lysins are a new class of DLAs which are
recombinantly produced, antimicrobial proteins with a novel
mechanism of action associated with the rapid killing of target
bacteria, eradication of biofilms and synergy with conventional
antibiotics, whether amurins are a novel class of DLAs which
exhibit broad-spectrum activity against a wide range of
antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative pathogens, and whether the
properties of ContraFect’s lysins and amurins will make them
suitable for targeting antibiotic-resistant organisms, such as MRSA
and P. aeruginosa. Forward-looking statements are statements
that are not historical facts, nor assurances of future
performance. Instead, they are based on ContraFect’s current
beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of its
business, future plans, strategies, projections, anticipated events
and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because
forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject
to inherent risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that
are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond ContraFect’s
control, including the occurrence of any adverse events related to
the discovery, development and commercialization of ContraFect’s
product candidates such as unfavorable clinical trial results,
insufficient supplies of drug products, the lack of regulatory
approval, or the unsuccessful attainment or maintenance of patent
protection and other important risks detailed under the caption
“Risk Factors” in ContraFect's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for
the quarter ended June 30, 2022 and its other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results may differ from
those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any
forward-looking statement made by ContraFect in this press release
is based only on information currently available and speaks only as
of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable
law, ContraFect expressly disclaims any obligations to publicly
update any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral,
that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new
information, future developments or otherwise.
Investor Relations Contacts:
Michael MessingerContraFect
CorporationEmail: mmessinger@contrafect.com
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