( ugh the oralroute is not excluded as a...)Arpida Announces Promising Results of "First-In-Man" Studies With,AR-709,Health

AR-709 is a novel DHFR inhibitor with an outstanding microbiological activity against streptococci in general and, importantly, against multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, the most relevant pathogen in community-acquired pneumonia. Moreover the compound has been shown to be highly effective in preclinical pneumonia models of infection both intravenously and by the oral route.

Arpida is completing the appropriate studies in order to initiate tolerability studies in humans.

About Streptococcus pneumoniae and pneumonia

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most feared bacterium that causes pneumonia in the community setting. Since the first reports of Streptococcus pneumoniae resistance to penicillin in 1967, the number of multiple antibiotic resistant organisms has rapidly increased world-wide, reaching peaks of 80% in regions of some countries in 1998. In the USA, up to 40% of the bacterial strains causing these infections are resistant to at least one drug, and 15% are resistant to three or more commonly used drugs. Streptococci cause 500,000 cases of pneumonia each year, and 7 million cases of ear infections and sinusitis in the USA alone. Recently, epidemics of diseases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae have reappeared in settings such as chronic care facilities, military camps and day care centers, a situation not seen since the pre-antibiotic era.

This increasing number of antibiotic-resistant pathogens is of specific concern to physicians in the area of respiratory tract infection. In the community setting, 67% of antibiotic use in adults and 87% in children is for the treatment of RTIs. The antibacterial market in the community settings is estimated at USD18 billion with pneumonia acquired in the community setting acc
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