Preventing Preemie Staph Infections Aim of New Study

Clinical trials of a new drug designed to prevent staphylococcal infections in premature infants are under way, thanks to groundbreaking work by a faculty member at Texas A&M University’s Institute of Biosciences and Technology in the Texas Medical Center.

Magnus Höök, Ph.D., who is director of the Center for Extracellular Matrix Biology and Neva and Wesley West Professor at the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, discovered a family of proteins called Microbial Surface Components Recognizing Adhesive Matrix Molecules, or MSCRAMMs, that are found on the surface of micro-organisms. The proteins enable the micro-organisms to attach to human or animal tissue, and then to cause infection. Höök and a co-inventor have received a number of U.S. patents based on this microbial technology.

Inhibitex Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that is founded on Höök’s Houston laboratory and focuses on preventing and treating staphylococcal and other bacterial infections, announced the start of a Phase I clinical trial of the drug Veronate last month. The company, located in Alpharetta, Georgia, is developing the drug to reduce the risk of both Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococcal infections in very-low-birth-weight infants. The drug is uniquely designed and formulated for pediatric use.

The study will evaluate the safety and tolerability of two different doses of Veronate in 36 hospitalized, very-low-birth-weight infants. Very-low-birth-weight infants are at increased risk of staphylococcal infections because their immune systems are underdeveloped, they have long hospital stays, and may require multiple medical procedures. Many of these infants contract staph infections while receiving care in neonatal intensive care units.

Inhibitex is developing Veronate for commercialization in the United States, and is evaluating commercialization strategies for the rest of the world.

The company is also collaborating with Wyeth on the development of a nosocomial staphylococcal vaccine. Just recently, Inhibitex entered into a research collaboration agreement with the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Center in Singapore. The agreement calls for the joint development of production cell lines and a manufacturing process for humanized monoclonal antibodies.

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