ContraFect Corp., located at 28 Wells Ave. in Yonkers, has been awarded a contract with a potential total value of $86.8 million from a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The biotechnology company has been working to discover and develop therapies to combat drug-resistant infectious diseases such as the staph infection MRSA.
The contract from the government”™s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) provides $9.8 million in initial funding and up to an additional $77 million over time.
The initial funding will be used to support ContraFect”™s ongoing studies of the drug Exebacase, which has been in Phase 3 studies and last year was designated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a breakthrough therapy. Additional funding from BARDA depends on the achievement of key milestones to continue the advancement of Exebacase through FDA product approval and completing additional requirements after that approval.
The company reports there are an estimated 700,000 deaths worldwide each year from drug-resistant infections. Antibiotic-resistant infections acquired in hospitals have been especially troubling.
ContraFect has been using what are known as direct lytic agents (DLAs), which include lysins and amurin peptides, to attack antibiotic resistant bacteria. The DLAs have a special ability to pierce the protective walls of bacteria and get inside to kill the organisms.
“Antibiotic-resistant infections are rising at an alarming rate, and developing effective medical countermeasures against these infections has become one of the most pressing health security challenges of this century,” said BARDA Director Gary Disbrow. “ContraFect Corp. is the latest partner to work with BARDA on potential solutions to life-threatening infections and help save lives in future public health emergencies.”
The company believes its Exebacase has the potential to become a new standard of care, compared to using antibiotics alone, for the treatment of Staph aureus bacteremia, a bloodstream infection that is resistant to methicillin, asemisynthetic penicillin-related antibiotic. Exebacase is given using intravenous infusion.
The company has about 350 patients enrolled in a randomized, double-blind clinical study of the Exebacase therapy at more than 40 sites in the U.S. The patient criteria for inclusion in the study was broadened to include people age 18 or over who have been hospitalized with a Covid-19 infection confirmed by positive diagnostic testing.
Exebacase was licensed from The Rockefeller University and is being developed at ContraFect.
