Destiny Pharma PLC (AIM:DEST, OTC:DTTYF), a biotech company, has published research about their new nasal gel called XF-73 in the US journal, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
The study shows that this gel greatly reduces a type of bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in patients' noses before heart surgery. This bacteria can cause infections after surgery.
Dr Julie Mangino, the report's lead author, discovered that XF-73 decreased S. aureus in the nose by 99.5% in patients having open-heart surgery.
Additionally, 83.7% of patients using XF-73 had almost no S. aureus in their noses just one hour before surgery, compared to only 25% of patients using a placebo.
These results were achieved with only three doses of the nasal gel before surgery, and the effect lasted during the period when the risk of infection is highest.
Dr Bill Love, chief scientific officer at Destiny Pharma, believes that this research is very important and will help medical professionals fight infections in hospitals. He says that XF-73 could be a game-changer in reducing post-surgery infections caused by superbugs.
Destiny is now looking for partners to help them with the final stage of testing and to get approval for XF-73 in the US and Europe.