Vast Therapeutics drug candidate can eradicate Anthrax, as found in an in vitro study

Vast Therapeutics has a drug candidate, BIOC51, which is active against Bacillus anthracis, commonly known as anthrax, it said found out in an in vitro study carried out at Lovelace Biomedical.

Dr. Mark Schoenfisch, President and CSO of Vast Therapeutics believes that the company’s technology would be effective against anthrax as BIOC51 already demonstrated ability to eradicate fast and slow growing bacteria, including 35 antibiotic-resistant strains deemed superbugs by the Center of Disease Control and World Health Organization.

“Our formulations are designed to be inhaled into the lungs and not require bacterial metabolism for action. Instead, our drug candidates mimic the body’s immune response by delivering large but safe concentrations of nitric oxide via a controlled delivery mechanism, in a water-soluble form,” he said.

Dr. Rebecca McDonald, Lead Microbiologist at Vast Therapeutics, said that the experiments proved BIOC51 is effective against anthrax in its active (or vegetative) state.

For Vast’s CEO, Neal Hunter, demonstrating effectiveness against anthrax is another key achievement for Vast and KNOW Bio that addresses a significant threat. He said in the statmenet that adding this pathogen to the company’s growing list of susceptible Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria continues to lay the ground-work for developing an entirely new drug class that mimics human physiology and will revolutionize the standard of care for treating infections.