NEW HAVEN, CT, USA I April 23, 2018 I Melinta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLNT), a commercial-stage company discovering, developing and commercializing novel antibiotics to treat serious bacterial infections, presented findings at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) meeting highlighting data for RX-P2382, an advanced lead investigational compound from the newly developed pyrrolocytosine class. Pyrrolocytosines were specifically designed by Melinta to target previously untapped binding sites on bacterial ribosomes and optimized for activity against today’s “superbugs”.

As reported, RX-P2382 demonstrated strong in vitro activity against all ESKAPE pathogens tested, including extremely-drug- and multidrug-resistant isolates of Escherichia coli (MIC90 0.25-0.5 μg/mL), Klebsiella pneumoniae (0.125-1 μg/mL), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2-8 μg/mL) and Acinetobacter baumannii (0.5-2 μg/mL); vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (0.06-1 μg/mL) and Staphylococcus aureus (0.06-1 μg/mL); ciprofloxacin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae (0.03-0.25 μg/mL); and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (0.25-2 μg/mL). In addition, RX-P2382 demonstrated efficacy in murine models of infection, including kidney, skin and respiratory infections – as well as peritonitis – caused by S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, S. pneumoniae and E. coli.

“These results, albeit early stage, support the continued development of compounds in the pyrrolocytosine class,” said Erin Duffy, Ph.D., Melinta’s Chief Scientific Officer. “Pyrrolocytosines such as RX‑P2382 are a completely new antimicrobial class that our team created. They bind to the ribosome in a manner unique from currently available classes. They were developed to overcome resistance mechanisms and show activity against bacteria on the CDC’s Urgent and Serious lists.”

Abstracts of the presentations may be found on the ECCMID website and posters will be available on Melinta’s Publications webpage after the conclusion of the Congress’ embargo period. Melinta’s RX-P2382 presentations at ECCMID were as follows:

  • Paper Poster Session (PS006) – Progress in the ESKAPE Pathogen Program: the in vitro profile of an advanced lead, RX-P2382.  4/21/2018 3:30 – 4:30pm
  • Paper Poster Session (PS009) – Progress in the ESKAPE Pathogen Program: the exploratory in vivo toxicological profile of an advanced lead, RX-P2382. 4/21/2018 3:30 – 4:30pm
  • Oral Session (OS046) – Progress in the ESKAPE Pathogen Program: the in vivo profile of an advanced lead, RX-P2382. 4/21/2018 4:54 – 5:04pm

About the ESKAPE Pathogen Program
Melinta’s ESKAPE pathogen program is built on the Company’s technology platform based on Nobel laureate science developed at Yale University. Melinta owns the exclusive licenses to the three-dimensional structure of the ribosome and has created the drug-design tools and associated discovery process to exploit the ribosome structure. With these, the Company is able both to improve on existing classes and to design and optimize completely new classes of antibiotics. In the ESKAPE pathogen program, Melinta has created three new classes of antibiotics that inhibit the bacterial ribosome, binding in a validated site that is not the home to commercially available antibiotics. In addition to utilizing this novel binding site, these new classes are also chemically novel; these two features offer a potential advantage vis-à-vis resistance development. Compounds in the lead class, known as the pyrrolocytosines, have been optimized to enhance bacterial influx and to minimize bacterial efflux and have been shown to be active in many preclinical models of efficacy. Compounds in this class represent many potential target product profiles, including for infections caused by drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and the full complement of ESKAPE pathogens, which are multidrug- and extremely-drug-resistant Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter sp. and Escherichia coli.

About Melinta Therapeutics
Melinta Therapeutics, Inc. is the largest pure-play antibiotics company, dedicated to saving lives threatened by the global public health crisis of bacterial infections through the development and commercialization of novel antibiotics that provide new therapeutic solutions. Its four marketed products include Baxdela™ (delafloxacin), Vabomere™ (meropenem and vaborbactam), Orbactiv® (oritavancin) and Minocin® (minocycline) for Injection. It also has an extensive pipeline of preclinical and clinical-stage products representing many important classes of antibiotics, each targeted at a different segment of the anti-infective market. Together, this portfolio provides Melinta with the unique ability to provide providers and patients with a range of solutions that can meet the tremendous need for novel antibiotics treating serious infections. Visit www.melinta.com for more information.

SOURCE: Melinta Therapeutics