Drug firm reveals breakthrough in STD treatment

DRUG discovery and development company Redx Pharma has made a breakthrough in the treatment of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea of which there are more than 106 million cases globally every year.

At its annual meeting chairman Dr Frank Armstrong announced the progress made by the AIM-listed company based in Liverpool and at Alderley Park in Cheshire.

He said: “The need for a new treatment for this sexually transmitted infection is becoming ever more urgent with resistance to last-line antibiotics now emerging as a critical problem.

“This is the second proof of concept to have been delivered from our anti-infectives pipeline in the last 18 months. To date, six proof of concepts have been achieved across five programs, with relevance for respective therapies to treat MRSA, bone tumours, skin, brain, breast, pancreatic and blood cancers.

“Our drug development candidate in the Porcupine program, which has the potential to target hard-to-treat cancers including pancreatic, triple negative breast and head and neck cancers, continues to offer very exciting potential.

“Alongside our MRSA compound, we expect it to progress into first-in-human clinical trials in the first quarter of 2017.

 “We continue to view prospects for the business with confidence.”