PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Peptilogics, a biotech company that engineers peptide therapeutics to improve the treatment landscape for patients with life-threatening diseases, today announced that the company received an award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The award will support preclinical research in a new class of engineered antibacterial peptides intended to serve as the first line of defense against invading pathogens, particularly bacteria, including multidrug resistant isolates that live in the airways of the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and resist common antibiotic treatments.
Recurrent acute and chronic lung infections and the resultant inflammation play a major role in the morbidity and early death experienced by individuals with CF. A wide variety of pathogenic bacteria are typically found in the airways of people with CF, and many of these bacteria are resistant to antibiotics used for treatment. New therapeutics, which can effectively treat multidrug-resistant strains, including biofilm bacteria, are urgently needed to treat recurrent acute and chronic lung infections in individuals with CF.
The preclinical research will focus on PLG0301 and PLG0206, two engineered cationic antibacterial peptides being developed by Peptilogics. PLG0301 and PLG0206 were designed with rapid bactericidal, broad-spectrum activity against multidrug-resistant clinical isolates, potent activity against biofilms that allow bacteria to evade antibiotics, and a low propensity for emergence of resistance, with a safe and tolerable systemic profile. Early research has also demonstrated the potential for anti-inflammatory activity, which, combined with their anti-bacterial activity, would provide additional value to CF patients by addressing the major fundamental causes of disease progression.
“PLG0301 and PLG0206 have a unique potential to address the urgent unmet need for a novel anti-infective with anti-biofilm activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria typically found in airway secretions of individuals with CF, while also reducing the resulting pathological inflammation,” said David Huang M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer at Peptilogics. “We look forward to advancing our preclinical program for PLG0301 and PLG0206 toward our goal of decreasing the duration and frequency of pulmonary exacerbations and ultimately improving and extending the lives of patients with CF. We are grateful to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for their interest in our program and contribution towards this research.”
The award provided by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation will generate both in vitro and in vivo data about PLG0301 and PLG0206, which may potentially support an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA for its continued development.
About Peptilogics
Peptilogics engineers peptide therapeutics to radically improve the treatment landscape for patients with life-threatening diseases. Through biological and pharmaceutical expertise, novel artificial intelligence algorithms, and purpose-built super-computing, Peptilogics is advancing an extensive therapeutic pipeline and accelerating discovery efforts at a pace and scale that was previously impossible. Peptilogics is backed by visionary investors in life science and technology including Thiel Capital, Presight Capital, CARB-X, and Founders Fund. For more information about Peptilogics, visit www.peptilogics.com or follow the company on Twitter and LinkedIn.
