Avexa's antibiotic storms lab tests

Shares in Avexa (ASX:AVX) grew nearly 20% after research partner Valevia Pharmaceuticals reported strong results from testing of anti-bacterial compound AVX13616.

Avexa's lead antibiotic demonstrated positive activity against bacteria ranging from Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) to multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus to penicillin-resistant Streptococci.

Avexa CEO Dr Jonathan Coates said the bacteria strains tested against had been isolated from recent hospital infection cases, “so the resistance profile of these...strains is highly relevant.”

During testing AVX13616 also showed no cross-resistance with other classes of antibiotics on-market.

Initial development of the compound has been focused on common hospital infections, although it also has applications as a topical treatment for other Gram-Positive infections of the skin, such as diabetic foot ulcers.

“Hospital-acquired infections are a serious health problem which are estimated to affect nearly two million patients annually in the USA alone,” Coates said. “The cost of treating these infections is estimated at over US$10 billion per annum.”

Melbourne-based Avexa licensed its entire antibacterial profile, including AVX13616, to Switzerland’s Valevia in 2010.

At the time, Avexa forecast that the deal could generate milestone payments and royalties of up to US$65 million ($63 million).

Avexa is meanwhile working on developing a next-generation HIV treatment. Last month, the company reported the results of laboratory trials of the HIV integrase inhibitors, showing activity in both sensitive and resistant strains of the virus.

Avexa (ASX:AVX) shares grew 19.23% to $0.031 after Valevia's results were announced on Tuesday, but had fallen back 6.45% to $0.029 as of around 2.30pm on Wednesday.