RALEIGH, N.C.—Arrevus, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing chaperone protein inhibitors for infectious diseases, announced today the receipt of a $1.5 million Fast-Track grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to expedite research on the effects of ARV-1502 on bacteremia caused by “high priority” multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens. Arrevus works to develop first-in-class proprietary anti-infectives known as designer proline-rich antimicrobial peptide chaperone protein inhibitors (DPCs).
“Arrevus is eager to investigate how ARV-1502 may help patients suffering from MDR bacteremia. Spread of resistant bacteria beyond the primary site of infection results in a high mortality rate and can occur in many clinical scenarios; this is an important indication that we need to address,” said Carl N. Kraus, M.D., President and CEO of Arrevus.
Infections caused by MDR bacteria result in substantial health and economic impact due to the lack of effective therapeutic options. Gram-negative bloodstream infections (BSIs) result in higher treatment costs compared to cases of drug-sensitive BSIs, and also carry a higher risk of disease recurrence.
The economic costs and casualties associated with infectious disease are increasing due to the ever-growing issue of antibiotic resistance, which has created a large subset of infections which are unresponsive to antibiotic therapy. While efforts to improve stewardship of currently used antibiotics are important to curb resistance trends, strategies to rebuild the antibiotic development pipeline are critical to fully address the issue of antibiotic resistance.
“Research by Arrevus is extremely important, given the extraordinary mortality associated with bacteremia. The investigation of Arrevus’s modified host defense peptides is exciting, especially given the antibiotic-enhancing properties of ARV-1502 on BSIs identified in prior animal studies,” said Dr. Yan Xiong, consortium Principal Investigator and Senior Investigator at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Researcher at UCLA School of Medicine.Arrevus
