Date: 2016-09-12
Type of information: Publication of results in a medical journal
phase: preclinical
Announcement: publication of results in Frontiers in Microbiology
Company: AmpliPhi BioSciences (USA - VA) Leicester University (UK)
Product: bacteriophage cocktail against Clostridium difficile
Action
mechanism: bacteriophage
Disease: Clostridium difficile infections
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
Country:
Trial details:
Latest
news: * On September 12, 2016, AmpliPhi Biosciences announced the publication of data from a preclinical study conducted by its collaborators at the University of Leicester demonstrating the prophylactic efficacy of AmpliPhi's proprietary phage cocktail, in vitro and in vivo, for the treatment and prevention of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infections. The paper titeld Get in Early’; Biofilm and Wax Moth (Galleria mellonella) Models Reveal New Insights into the Therapeutic Potential of Clostridium difficile Bacteriophages is published online and is expected to be published in a hard copy special issue of Frontiers in Microbiology dedicated to the past, present and future of phage research and development. University of Leicester researchers Janet Nale, Ph.D., and Prof. Martha Clokie, demonstrated in vitro that C. difficile phages are effective pre-biofilm therapeutics and can penetrate established biofilms. In a larval model, these phages reduced C. difficile bacterial counts when administered prophylactically. Furthermore, combinations of phages and vancomycin led to a marked decrease in C. difficile colonization. Preliminary data from this study were recently presented at the Viruses of Microbes 2016 conference held in Liverpool, UK, in a poster titled ‘Phages as potential prophylactic therapeutics for Clostridium difficile infection’, which was presented by Prof. Clokie and Dr. Nale.
