IBS trials success for 4D pharma

MANCHESTER pharmaceutical company 4D pharma is reported successful phase one clinical trials of Blautix – a treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

The company started tests in August – on both healthy volunteers and individuals exhibiting symptoms of IBS.

Volunteers who have taken multiple doses of the Blautix drug product and it appears to have been well tolerated.

4D chief scientific officer Dr Alex Stevenson said: “Although this is interim data, these results indicate that Blautix appears to be safe and well tolerated in healthy volunteers.

“We look forward to reporting further results from the trial shortly, when dosing in IBS patients is completed.
 
“We believe our approach of identifying and developing novel live biotherapeutic products from healthy human samples gives us an advantage in terms of safety, and also allows us to rapidly develop drug candidates for diseases where current treatments may be associated with severe side effects.”

4D has two clinical stage programmes – Blautix, for the treatment of IBS, and Thetanix, for the treatment of Paediatric Crohn’s Disease.

The company has successfully developed MicroRx, its proprietary platform for the discovery of novel live biotherapeutics from its proprietary strain library of over 2,500 bacteria.
 
Since May 2014, the MicroRx platform has generated 12 programmes in autoimmune, cancer and CNS disease areas.
 
As all live biotherapeutics discovered via MicroRx originate from healthy human samples, they are expected to have improved safety profiles over current treatments, such as small molecules and other biologics such as antibodies.

In December, AIM-listed 4D announced plans to raise £30m through a shares placing to accelerate its pipeline of exciting potential new cures for a range of diseases.

The fundraising was the company’s third placing since its listing in early 2014. Since its IPO its shares have rocketed on the back of a flow of good news about its work on live biotherapeutic remedies.