Innovation Pharmaceuticals announces new antifungal testing of Brilacidin

Innovation Pharmaceuticals announced that based on positive findings new testing of Brilacidin in additional in vitro and in vivo models against hard-to-treat fungal pathogens is planned by NIH/NIAID-affiliated and other academic researchers. Brilacidin is the Company’s defensin mimetic drug candidate exhibiting antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. Extensive in vitro testing of Brilacidin by these research groups against multiple pathogenic human fungi has been completed. Comparable to findings observed in testing by scientists at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Brilacidin showed potent stand-alone inhibition in multiple isolates of C. neoformans, for which few effective treatments exist. Brilacidin showed promising stand-alone inhibition as well in multiple isolates of Mucorales, Fusarium sp., C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, C. guillermondii, Lomentospora prolificans, Scedosporium apiospermum, Blastomyces dermatitidis and Histoplasma capsulatum. USP researchers have also shown Brilacidin to be synergistic with caspofungin in different types of fungi. Additive effects were similarly observed in Brilacidin combinations with voriconazole and geldanamycin against A. fumigatus, as well as with posaconazole against Mucorales. Separate in vitro laboratory testing evaluating Brilacidin in combination with other conventional antifungals – including caspofungin, fluconazole, posaconazole, amphotericin B and micafungin – demonstrated additive or synergistic inhibition of fungal growth. In related news, Brilacidin antifungal data was accepted for a scientific poster presentation at the 16th Annual European Conference on Fungal Genetics, held in Innsbruck, Austria, March 5-8, 2023, based on research conducted at USP and other academic institutions.