In a recent series of announcements and publications, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and leading medical journals have emphasised the importance of decolonisation in preventing surgical site infections.
This increased focus on infection prevention has caught the attention of Brighton-based biotech company, Destiny Pharma PLC (AIM:DEST, OTC:DTTYF), which is currently developing a breakthrough nasal gel for the prevention of post-surgical infections.
The gel, known as XF-73, is the lead drug candidate developed from Destiny’s XF platform and is initially being developed for the prevention of post-surgical staphylococcal infections, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
These types of infections can cause significant complications and increase healthcare costs in the hospital setting.
"The Centers for Disease Control's announcement clearly recognises the need for new and effective decolonization agents and their importance for public health," said Dr Yuri Martina, Destiny’s chief medical officer.
"They have made a clear call to simplify the pathway to regulatory approval and suggested the need for establishing new surrogate endpoints.
“Destiny Pharma views this as a very encouraging shift in the agency's thinking that could be very supportive to our clinical development of XF-73 Nasal."
In addition to the CDC's statement, two recent papers published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine have underlined the importance of decolonisation in preventing post-surgical infections and complications.
Both papers also highlighted the substantial impact of post-surgical infections on patients and the potential for long-term debilitation and life-threatening consequences.
"At Destiny Pharma, we are committed to progressing the phase III clinical development of our XF-73 Nasal gel targeting nasal decolonization and delivering a new product to prevent post-surgical infections and the resulting complications for patients in hospitals around the world," Dr Martina added.