PR97720

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/-

    - International health authorities, such as the WHO and the CDC are warning

of the emerging danger of bacterial infections resistant to current antibiotics

    - The 2022 World Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) Congress in the greater

Washington D.C. area is serving as a forum to openly address the threat of

AMR    

    - Debiopharm will join the action-focused discussions around this silent

pandemic in 3 panel discussions, presenting their microbiome-sparing FabI

inhibitor class as a future tool to fight AMR

    Debiopharm, (www.debiopharm.com  ) a privately-owned, Swiss-based,

biopharmaceutical company committed to the development of novel class

antibiotics, today revealed its involvement in three panel discussions at the

World AMR Congress, taking place in Fort Washington, Maryland, from September

7th – 8th. This conference offers pharmaceutical companies, government, and

policy stakeholders from all around the world the opportunity to meet, discuss

and formulate initiatives to effectively tackle the emerging threat of

antimicrobial resistance. Debiopharm will present developments on its FabI

inhibitor antibiotic class including afabicin (Debio 1450), Debio 1453 and

Debio 1454S, all of which have microbiome-sparing potential, a promising

characteristic for AMR prevention.

    AMR is a leading cause of death and disability and represents a major

threat to human health. Among the 1.27 million deaths1 that occur globally due

to antibiotic-resistant infections each year, more than 35,0002 occur in the

United States and over 33,0003 occur in Europe. The economic burden of AMR is

also significant4 in direct health care and lost productivity costs are

attributable to antibiotic-resistant bacteria like Staphylococcus spp.

    The WHO and the CDC have identified such pathogens posing a threat to

public health and Debiopharm, one of the few private companies still engaged in

the development of novel antibiotics, has directed its efforts toward targeting

them. The World AMR summit offers a great opportunity to governments, funds,

associations, and passionate companies like Debiopharm to join forces against

one of the top global public threats facing humanity.

    "We're proud to unveil more on the role our novel class antibiotic, the

FabI inhibitors, amongst key international stakeholders at the World AMR. We're

hoping that our collaboration with specialized organizations and lawmakers will

trigger the much needed changes in the way we think about the unmet need for

antibiotics as well as provide hope to people and health practitioners dealing

with these seemingly insurmountable infections," stated Mohammed Benghezal,

Global Project Lead in Anti-infectives, Debiopharm.

    "Pathogen-specific antibiotic effect without harming the 'good' gut

bacteria: it is the best of both worlds! As we research their efficacy and

safety profile, this class of antibiotics could be like no other," expressed

Ricardo Chaves, Executive Medical Director, Debiopharm. "Now is the time to

encourage the development of new antibiotic classes by establishing new

business models that will assure future patients access to effective treatments

that will knock out highly resistant bacterial infections and at the same time

prevent AMR development."

    World AMR 2022 Session Details:

Session 1: Sept.7th, Keynote panel discussion, 09:40 – 10:20 EST

Congress agenda:

Disease Prevention & Control Summit – Funding & Commercial Landscape

Speakers:

Ricardo Chaves, Executive Medical Director - Debiopharm + other invited speakers

    World AMR 2022 Session Details:

Session 2: Sept.7th, 11:40-12:10 EST

Congress agenda:

Antibiotic Development – Panel Discussion Pathogen-specific antibiotic therapy:

A new paradigm to face AMR?

Speakers:

Ricardo Chaves, Executive Medical Director, Debiopharm

Vance Fowler, Professor of Medicine, c and Microbiology, Duke University, North

Carolina

James Anderson, Executive Director Global Health, IFPMA

    World AMR 2022 Session Details:

Session 3: Sept.8th, 11:40-12:00 EST

Congress agenda:

Innovation Showcase - Microbiome

One Drug for One Bug: FabI Novel Class Antibiotics for Microbiome Sparing and

AMR Prevention

Speakers:

Riccardo Nisato, Licensing and Grant Associate Manager, Debiopharm

Mohammed Benghezal, Global Project Lead in Anti-infectives, Debiopharm

    About afabicin

    Afabicin (Debio 1450) is Debiopharm's first-in-class FabI inhibitor against

Staphylococcus spp., whose sub-class Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus

aureus (MRSA) is high on the WHO global priority pathogen list and deemed a

"serious threat" by the CDC. Afabicin can be administered orally or IV and

selectively targets Staphylococcus' essential bacterial fatty acid

biosynthesis. Promising results have been obtained in a comparative

double-blind Phase 2 trial with afabicin in acute bacterial skin and skin

structure infections. Currently, an international Phase 2 trial in bone and

joint infections is being conducted comparing afabicin to standard antibiotics.

    About Debio 1453 and Debio 1454S

    Analogous to Afabicin, the preclinical compounds Debio 1453 and Debio 1454S

are potential first-in-class pathogen-specific drugs targeting the essential

bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis. Debio 1453 can be administered orally or

intramuscularly to treat Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections while Debio 1454S is

being developed for IV use in cases of hospital-acquired pneumonia and

ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter

baumannii.

    Debiopharm's fight against antimicrobial resistance

    Debiopharm, an innovation-focused, Swiss biopharmaceutical company is one

of the few privately owned companies developing novel class antibiotics to

combat hard-to-treat infections. Through their unique partnership-based

business model, the company is advancing pathogen-specific antibiotics from

early stage through phase II clinical research with afabicin, specifically

targeting staphylococci, being the most clinically advanced for the treatment

of bone and joint infections. As a result of high selectivity, FabI inhibitors

specifically target selected pathogens while preserving intestinal microbiota

and meet all four WHO 2020 innovation criteria: new chemical class, new target,

new mode of action and no cross-resistance to other antibiotic classes.

    For more information, please visit www.debiopharm.com 

    We are on Twitter. Follow us @DebiopharmNews at

http://twitter.com/DebiopharmNews 

    Debiopharm Contact

    Dawn Haughton

Communication Manager

dawn.haughton@debiopharm.com

Tel: +41 (0)21 321 01 11

    References

    [1] Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators. Global burden of bacterial

antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. Lancet.

2022;399(10325):629-655.

    [2] CDC Antibiotic resistance threats in the United States, 2019.

https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/pdf/threats-report/2019-ar-threats-report-508.pdf

    [3] Cassini A, et al. Attributable deaths and disability-adjusted

life-years caused by infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the EU

and the European Economic Area in 2015: a population-level modelling analysis.

Lancet Infect Dis. 2019;19(1):56-66.

    [4] CDC Antibiotic resistance threats in the United States, 2013.

https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/pdf/ar-threats-2013-508.pdf

    SOURCE: Debiopharm International SA