Inhibitex presents Ph II Aurexis trial data

USA-based biopharmaceutical firm Inhibitex has presented data from a pivotal Phase II trial of its antibody-based drug Aurexis at the 45th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, held in Washington DC. The study assessed the drug as a first-line therapy, in combination with standard antibiotics, for serious life-threatening Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections.

The program, which was led by John Weems, a professor of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, was primarily an examination of the compound's safety and pharmacokinetics but also, according to researchers, it was a key initial step in assessing its potential to improve cure rates over currently-used therapies. The study enrolled 60 patients with a range of both hospital-associated and commonly-acquired infections. The investigators report that positive trends were observed in the composite primary endpoint of mortality, relapse rate and infection-related complications, and a number of secondary endpoints, including the progression in the severity of sepsis and days spent in intensive care. The firm added that, based on its most recent findings, it plans to carry out further studies of the product in this indication in 2006.