Cheshire biotech Infex Therapeutics has awarded a £1m contract to a Swiss manufacturer to produce the new treatment for serious lung infections that will be trialled in Liverpool. Tony McDonough reports

Clinical trials for a new drug to treat lung infections will take place in Liverpool after Cheshire biotech Infex Therapeutics awarded a £1m contract to a Swiss manufacturer.

Infex, based at Alderley Park, acquires, develops and licenses new drugs to treat pandemic infections and is creating a portfolio of new therapies to meet the rising burden of critical priority infectious disease.

Now it has awarded a £1m contract to Lonza to manufacture RESP-X, a novel therapy which targets serious recurrent respiratory infections in patients with damaged lung functions. Lonza will make enough of the drug for clinical trials.

RESP-X is expected to enter clinical trials at the Liverpool University Hospital Foundation Trust Clinical Research Facility in November this year. The RESP-X programme is backed by iiCON, the new infectious disease consortium led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, supported by the Government’s Strength in Places Fund.

The drug is an anti-virulence therapy in-licensed from Japanese pharma company Shionogi. It is designed to help the body tackle pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, a hard to treat drug-resistant pathogen recognised by the WHO as a critical threat to human health.

A novel humanised monoclonal antibody, RESP-X does not kill bacteria directly but deactivates a mechanism that prevents the immune system from acting against the infection.

Dr Peter Jackson, executive director of Infex Therapeutics, said: “Lonza is recognised as a global leader in the manufacture of therapeutic antibodies and we have negotiated this agreement that will provide access to their manufacturing plant within the timeline we need.

“Lonza was involved in an earlier stage of the programme, producing pre-clinical material at its facility in Singapore, and we’re very pleased to be able to bring this larger scale body of manufacturing to Lonza’s facility in the UK.

“RESP-X is designed as a preventative treatment against non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, a long-term condition where the airways of the lungs become abnormally widened, leading to a build-up of excess mucus that can make the lungs more vulnerable to infection.

“Patients can become chronically infected with pseudomonas, significantly reducing their quality of life. There is high, unmet need, with millions of patients worldwide at risk of this condition, and no approved preventative therapy.”

Jeetendra Vaghjiani, director of commercial development, Mammalian at Lonza, added: “The mission of Infex is an important one and we are happy to collaborate with Infex in this battle against serious infectious disease.”