Lumen Bioscience a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing biologic drugs for highly prevalent diseases, announced it was awarded $16.2 million by the U.S. Department of Defense to advance LMN-201 through late-stage trials. LMN-201 is an investigational, orally delivered biologic drug to treat and prevent C. difficile infection.
CDI is a bacterial infection closely associated with antibiotics use in hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities. It is the most common health care-associated infection in U.S hospitals, causing nearly half a million cases and more than $5 billion in costs annually.
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Antibiotic therapy is often successful in treating initial CDI cases, but 20%-40% of patients will suffer a first recurrence within weeks. In studies with vulnerable patients, further recurrence rates sometimes exceed 50%.
“Existing drugs for preventing Cdiff are costly and extremely inconvenient to administer, so we’re excited about our chance to finally make a dent in U.S. CDI prevalence with this new therapeutic approach.” said Dr. Carl Mason, Lumen Bio’s VP, clinical affairs. “We are committed to moving LMN-201 into and through late-stage trials as quickly as possible to get it into the hands of those suffering from this terrible life-threatening disease.”
SOURCE : PRNewswire