Novel Antibiotic Studied for Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infections and Bone and Joint Infections

Debiopharm is a privately-owned, Swiss-based, biopharmaceutical company working on treatments to cure cancer and treat infectious diseases. The company has developed an investigational antibiotic, afabicin, which is defined as a first-in class antibiotic agent called fabiotics. It inhibits fatty acid synthesis in staphylococci by targeting the Fabl enzyme. According to the company, the therapy fulfills all 4 World Health Organization’s 2020 innovativeness criteria, including it’s a new chemical class, new target, a new mode of action and no cross-resistance to other antibiotic classes.

Debiopharm reports the compound is currently in phase 2 research for the treatment of bone and joint infections (BJI) due to staphylococci. Afabicin is also being researched in staphylococcal acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI).

Debiopharm conducted a phase 2 study in patients with staphylococcal ABSSSI demonstrating the efficacy and safety of this first-in-class staphylococcal-selective antibiotic afabicin with the 2 doses tested vs active comparator vancomycin /oral linezolid. The study objectives were met, demonstrating non-inferiority of afabicin to comparator in all pathogenic staphylococci species infected patient populations including MRSA and ensuring that treatment with afabicin at both doses was safe and well tolerated.

Contagion spoke to Ricardo Chaves, MD, PhD, executive medical director, clinical development, Debiopharm at the recent World AMR Congress and he offered further insights on this investigational antibiotic and the company’s pipeline.