Arch Biopartners Readies AB569, Potential Therapy for Lung Infections, for Planned Phase 1 Trial

Arch Biopartners recently completed a good manufacturing practice (GMP) production campaign for AB569, a potential inhalation treatment for antibiotic-resistant bacterial lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis (CF) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other conditions. The campaign, intended to ensure the quality of the investigative therapy, was directed by Dalton Pharma Services.

AB569 is composed of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and sodium nitrite, two compounds approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in people. AB569 can be administered alone or in combination with other compounds to treat multi-drug resistant bacterial infections that can cause reduced lung function.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most common bacterial infections in patients with respiratory diseases, including CF, COPD, and pneumonia.

In preclinical studies, AB569 was shown to be capable of killing drug-resistant bacteria like P. aeruginosa and other common pathogens associated with chronic lung infections.

The company also announced that a Phase 1 clinical trial to investigate the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of AB569, planned to start in January, will be conducted at the Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center (CVAMC). According to an Arch Biopartners press release, Ralph Panos, chief of medicine at CVAMC, will lead the trial.

Three escalating doses of nebulized AB569 will be used to evaluate tolerance to the treatment in about 25 healthy volunteers. Each will be given a single administration of nebulized AB569  to characterize the pharmacokinetic profile of plasma nitrite and nitrate metabolites, exhaled nitric oxide, and circulating hemoglobin.

Pharmacokinetics studies how a drug is absorbed, distributed and metabolized in, and expelled by, the body.

Should the Phase 1 trial in volunteers be successful, Arch Biopartners plans to move its AB569 program into a Phase 2 trial to test its effectiveness in treating chronic P. aeruginosa infections in COPD patients.

AB569 received orphan drug status by the FDA in November 2015 as a potential treatment of P. aeruginosa lung infections in CF patients. Orphan drug status is given to investigative medicines intended for people with rare diseases to speed their development and testing.