ContraFect Corporation announced the presentation of data showing significant activity of its direct lytic agents against the most drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa),lebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) and Burkholderia spp, at ASM Microbe 2023 held from June 15-19, 2023 in Houston, Texas. The data presented at ASM Microbe is quite powerful. Both dose regimens of CF-370 in addition to amikacin significantly reduced bacteria counts compared to all other treatment groups (p<0.0001).

In the second study using the same model, neutropenic animals were infected with an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strain of K. pneumoniae obtained from the Center for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration Antibiotic Resistance Isolate Bank and treated with dose regimens of meropenem and CF-370 administered alone and CF-370 administered in multiple doses in addition to meropenem. The only treatment arm to achieve a significant reduction in bacterial density occurred with the administration of multiple doses of CF-370 in addition To meropenem as compared to all other treatment arms (p<0.0002). After multiple in vitro studies, including the determination of minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values, time-kill assays, fluorometric uptake assays for N-Phenyl-1-naphthylamine (NPN) to demonstrate the disruption of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and testing for hemolysis of human red blood cells, the Company has selected 18 lysins with highly potent and extremely rapid bactericidal activity against Burkholderia spp and Yersinia pestis and, importantly, no hemolytic activity, for further preclinical development and selection for progression into animal efficacy studies.

In preparation for the study of CF-370 in human clinical trials, the Company studied the relationship between CF-370 exposure and efficacy in a rabbit pneumonia model caused by a carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa.