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- Botanix has released new data from its BTX 1801 skin-care antimicrobial product, showing strong potential to treat serious skin infections
- BTX 1801 is a specific formulation of cannabidiol which can be applied to the surface of the skin in the form of a cream and designed to target bacterial infections in the skin
- The product has proven to be remarkably effective at killing a range of bacteria, and superbugs were not able to develop a resistance to the treatment
- BTX 1801 shows similarities to powerful antibiotics like vancomycin and daptomycin
- The next phase of development is to optimise the dosing strategy for clinical development, then begin a clinic study in a target skin infection indication
Botanix Pharmaceuticals has reported new data from its BTX 1801 skin-care antimicrobial product.
Just yesterday, Botanix released strong results from a world-first study involving its BTX 1308 product for the treatment of skin diseases like psoriasis. Today, Botanix has released new data which shows the strong potential of BTX 1801 to treat serious skin infections.
BTX 1801 is a specific formulation of cannabidiol which can be applied to the surface of the skin in the form of a cream. The product is designed to target bacterial infections in the skin.
Previous studies using BTX 1801 indicated that the cannabidiol product has the potential to be an antibiotic for a broad class of bacteria referred to as Gram-Positive bacteria.
The recent studies, conducted in collaboration with Dr Mark Blaskovich at The University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience’s Centre for Superbug Solutions, confirm these initial findings.
According to Botanix, this study has proven BTX 1801 to be remarkably effective at killing a range of bacteria, including clinical isolates of staph (staphylococcus aureus) and MRSA (methicillin resistance staphylococcus aureus). BTX 1801 shows similarities to powerful antibiotics like vancomycin and daptomycin.
Furthermore, the cannabidiol product is able to kill bacteria quickly – in fewer than three hours – and MRSA superbugs did not develop any resistance to the treatment after 21 days of continuous treatment in industry-standard repeat challenge tests. The product also contains similar anti-inflammatory properties as BTX 1308.
Botanix Founder and CEO Matt Callahan said the implications of the BTX 1801 study results are immense.
“This new data significantly expands the potential for BTX 1801, to not only serve as a powerful new antibiotic option for patients and doctors but provides further confirmation antimicrobial activity may be a significant contributor to the overall efficacy of Botanix’s Phase 2 products for acne and atopic dermatitis,” Matt said.
Dr Blaskovich said the new pipeline of new antibiotics is much too small to deal with the growing threat of microbial resistance.
“Most of these agents are really only modifications of existing antibiotics and will not provide long-term solutions to the problem,” Dr Balskovich said.
“It is not surprising that the United States Food and Drug Administration has recently provided companies with attractive incentives to develop new antibiotics including expedited review of drug applications and introducing the qualified infectious disease products designation program which allows companies to gain an extra five years’ marketing exclusivity following drug approval,” he said.
He added that he would be presenting data from these studies at the upcoming ASM Microbe conference in San Francisco. The next phase of development for BTX 1801 is to optimise the dosing strategy for clinical development, then begin a clinical study in a target skin infection indication.
Botanix shares rose again today, hitting a five-year high of 17.5 cents per share earlier this morning. As at 11:33am AEST, shares are up 19.29 per cent to trade for 17 cents each.
