ContraFect Corp., a biotechnology company based in Yonkers developing therapeutic protein and antibody treatments for drug-resistant infectious diseases, announced that it will proceed to phase one clinical trials with its investigational new drug, CF-301, in the first quarter of 2015.
CF-301 will be tested as a treatment for drug-resistant Staph infections. It was licensed from The Rockefeller University and developed at ContraFect.
“We believe it has great potential to address the global crisis of drug-resistance,” ContraFect CEO Julia P. Gregory said in a statement. “CF-301, with its novel mechanism of action and full activity against drug-resistant bacteria and biofilms, is sorely needed to treat these life-threatening infections. We look forward to commencing the Phase 1 trial.”
According to a press release from ContraFect, there are approximately 120,000 cases annually of Staph bacteremia (a bloodstream infection) in the U.S. each year, causing approximately 30,000 deaths annually, and drug-resistant strains of Staph are now evolving and developing additional resistance against standard-of-care antibiotics, which may ultimately result in an increased number of cases and mortality from Staph bacteremia.
ContraFect made a $41.3 million initial public offering of securities over the summer. The company”™s common stock trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market, an exchange for corporations with small market capitalizations.
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