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news.Covance has secured a contract from Motif Bio to undertake two Phase III clinical trials with iclaprim, which is a targeted spectrum antibiotic designed to be effective against multi-drug-resistant bacteria.
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The randomised, double blind, multicentre trials will evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous iclaprim versus intravenous vancomycin in the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI).
Iclaprim is being developed to treat the most common and serious bacterial infections such as ABSSSI and hospital acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP).
It will also treat infections caused by resistant strains such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae.
Motif Bio chief medical officer David Huang said: "The signing of this agreement with Covance is a great step forward for Motif and its development strategy for iclaprim, and ensures a timely start of the Phase III programme.
"We are now progressing with the selection of countries and investigator sites; programme study drug logistics; and submission of regulatory documents to health authorities, institutional review boards, and independent ethics committees worldwide."
Motif is planning to market iclaprim in 2018. Iclaprim is a dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitor originally discovered by F. Hoffman-La Roche.
Motif is negotiating with pharmaceutical firms and universities to build a pipeline of new antibiotics targeting Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.