By Jordyn Hronec – Digital Producer, Pittsburgh Business Times
Sep 22, 2021, 12:28pm EDT
Peptilogics, a biotech company based on the South Side, will be presenting data it collected from the first-in-human Phase 1 of its lead investigational therapy for the treatment of prosthetic joint infection (PJI). The presentation will take place at the IDWeek 2021 conference.
The company, which engineers peptide therapeutics in order to change the treatment landscape for patients with life-threatening diseases, has optimized the therapy, known as PLG0206, for both safety and broad-spectrum activity against biofilms, which are produced by bacteria that harbor and protect bacteria from most antibiotics.
The PLG0206 therapy has been granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation and Qualified Infectious Disease Product Designation for the treatment of PJI. It targets and disrupts bacterial membranes, thus leading to the rapid killing of bacterial cells. It was announced in February of 2020 that Peptilogics would receive funding for clinical studies of the treatment from CARB-X, or Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, a global nonprofit partnership based at Boston University School of Law.
Following joint replacement procedures, 1-2% of patients will develop a PJI. These infections are serious and life-threatening, and often require major surgeries to resolve, which carry a 60% failure rate. The mortality rate for surgeries intended to resolve PJIs over a five year period is 25%.
At the IDWeek 2021 conference, Peptilogics will present data from three accepted abstracts:
IDWeek is the joint annual meeting of several organizations: the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP). IDWeek 2021 is a virtual conference taking place from Sept. 29 through Oct. 3.