The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics (CFFT) has given an award worth up to $5 million to Savara Pharmaceuticals to support the continued development of AeroVanc, an inhaled antibiotic intended to treat persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) lung infection in individuals with cystic fibrosis.
Specifically, the award will support testing of AeroVanc (vancomycin hydrochloride inhalation powder)’s clinical effectiveness in a pivotal Phase 3 (NCT03181932) trial called AVAIL.The study intends to recruit up to 200 CF patients, ages 6 and older, at some 80 sites across the U.S. and Canada.
AeroVanc is the first inhaled antibiotic aiming to treat MRSA lung infections in CF patients. In a Phase 2 study in CF patients with persistent MRSA infection (NCT01746095), AeroVanc was found to reduce MRSA density in sputum and showed encouraging trends of improvement in lung function. AeroVanc also seemed to prolong the time of use of other antibiotics in young adults.
