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Summit uses more than gut instinct to prove C.diff antibiotic's worth

Published: 03:08 21 Jun 2016 EDT

pills, pill jar and a document with the word antibiotics
The company is developing a next-generation antibiotic.

Summit Therapeutics PLC’s (LON:SUMM, NASDAQ:SMMT) new antibiotic for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has been shown to have further major benefits over the gold-standard treatment.

The ongoing phase II CoDIFy trial of ridinilazole has indicated it is more effective at preserving gut microbiome of patients than the go-to drug vancomycin.

This is important as disruption of the gut microbiome may explain why the infection recurs or some patients don’t have a sustained response to the drugs.

Ridinilazole, which could be used as a broad treatment for CDI, has already demonstrated “substantial clinical benefit over vancomycin”, including a big reduction in the recurrence of CDI.

The latest data will be presented at a conference called ASM Microbe 2016, which is being held in Boston.

Researcher Dale Gerding, who is Professor of Medicine at Loyola University, Chicago, said: "Ridinilazole is a shining example of translational medicine, where its high selectivity in the lab has read through to a preserved microbiome in trial patients, ultimately resulting in significantly more sustained clinical responses in a phase II trial compared to the standard of care.

"These and additional supporting data presented at ASM Microbe show the broad potential of ridinilazole as a novel treatment for CDI, and I look forward to its continued clinical development."

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