Single-dose lysin shows promise against S. aureus in phase 2 trial
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Patients with Staphylococcus aureus who were treated with exebacase, a recombinantly produced lysin, achieved symptom resolution in half the time compared with participants who received placebo, researchers reported at IDWeek.
Cara Cassino, MD, chief medical officer and executive vice president of research and development at ContraFect Corporation — the biotechnology company that created exebacase — and colleagues conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multinational phase 2 study of 86 patients who were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive either a single 2-hour infusion of exebacase or a placebo, in addition to standard-of-care antibiotics.
Symptoms resolved in 94.3% of participants who received exebacase and in 87.9% of those who received placebo, Cassino and colleagues reported. The median time for symptom resolution was 3 days for those who received exebacase and 6 days for those in the placebo arm.
Moreover, symptoms resolved in 3 days for those with MRSA who received exebacase compared with 7 days among those who received placebo. For participants with methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, symptoms resolved in 3 days for those who received exebacase and in 5 days among those who received a placebo.
“We believe that these data suggest rapid bacteriolysis may translate into clinical benefit when lysin exebacase is used in addition to standard of care antibiotics,” Cassino said during her presentation.
Perspective
Back to TopKeith S. Kaye, MD, MPH
Although neither mortality results nor safety data are reported in the abstract, the results of improved rapidity of symptoms are encouraging. S. aureus bacteremia, particularly due to MRSA, remains a challenging infection for clinicians to manage. Availability of a single-dose lysin to supplement standard-of-care therapy that can improve patient outcomes of patients with S. aureus bacteremia would be important and impactful for clinicians and patients alike and makes these preliminary phase 2 trial findings particularly exciting.
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Cassino C, et al. Abstract LB12. Presented at: IDWeek; Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2021 (virtual meeting).
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