Destiny Pharma announces start of a new XF-73 research programme

• Aim to test XF-73 as a potential preventive medicine for Oral Mucositis
• Oral Mucositis is a common and devastating complication from chemotherapy and radiotherapy suffered by more than 2m cancer patients every year

Brighton, United Kingdom – 05 July 2022 – Destiny Pharma plc (AIM: DEST), a clinical-stage innovative biotechnology company focused on the development of novel medicines that can prevent life-threatening infections, today announces that it has started a new research programme. The research study will be conducted in the US by Oral Mucositis (“OM”) expert Professor Stephen Sonis and will investigate the potential of XF-73 as a preventive medicine to alleviate suffering from OM in patients receiving cancer treatment by testing its efficacy in the gold-standard model of OM.

The potential utility of XF-73 in this indication is due to the long-recognised association between the development of OM and changes in the oral microbiome. The unique antimicrobial properties of XF‑73 have already been demonstrated in Phase 2 clinical trials. As well as having fast-acting antimicrobial activity and a novel mechanism of action, XF-73 has an excellent safety profile and a lack of systemic exposure which means that it is ideally suited for development as an innovative oral formulation to reduce the severity of OM.

Inflammation of the mucosa (mucositis) is considered one of the most serious non-hematological complications of cancer treatment and a common dose-limiting complication of high-dose radiotherapy and chemotherapy in cancer and bone marrow transplant patients of all ages. Globally, more than two million cancer patients suffer from this condition each year. The global OM market was estimated at $2.2b in 20181.

Despite its frequency and devastating impact, there are few approved preventive or treatment options available to help patients suffering from OM. Professor Stephen Sonis, DMD, DMSc, is a Professor of Oral Medicine at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and also CSO at Biomodels, LLC. Prof. Sonis is a leading OM expert and his development of predictive research models has enabled investigation of the biological basis of cancer regimen-related epithelial injury in over 100 projects.

Neil Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Destiny Pharma, added: “Oral Mucositis is a very serious condition affecting millions of cancer patients across the world and is poorly treated by current products. A successful preventative product will save healthcare costs and improve patient care whilst supporting a stronger patient to complete their full course of treatment and thereby make a significant contribution to improved clinical outcomes. This new project utilises the unique profile of our XF platform in a new cancer related indication and we look forward to testing its potential in gold-standard OM models.”

1 OM Market Size, Growth and Trends by Cause – 2020