COVID-19 may seem the only bug worth seeking to squash right now but there are at least two other battles that haven’t witnessed a ceasefire.
One prominant group of bugs are the so-called “super bugs” — bacteria which as its name suggests can resist conventional antibiotics.
ASX small cap Recce Pharmaceuticals (ASX:RCE) is one company that has taken up the fight against them.
Its drug RECCE-327 has been tested against Staphylococcus aureus in rats. This bacteria can cause sepsis, a common inflammation which can be life threatening.
This bug alone accounts for 2 per cent of hospitalisations and 17 per cent of hospital deaths. It claims one life every 2 minutes and in the US alone kills 270,000 people annually.
And Recce today announced its study was a success. The drug met its primary endpoints of a reduction in bacterial load in wounds and a percentage of wound contraction.
Recce Chairman Dr John Prendergast said the data was greatly encouraging.
“It reinforces REECE-327 is potent and keeps on working with repeated efficacy against topical pathogens and superbugs at different dosing levels,” he said.
The company plans to eventually undertake human clinical studies for RECCE-327.
Fighting mosquitos in the Americas
Meanwhile, Bio-Gene Technology (ASX:BGT) took a major step in its battle against mosquitos in the Americas.
It has partnered with US-based mosquito killer Clarke Mosquito to develop its technologies for use on a larger scale.
For Australians mosquitos may seem like a mere inconvenience, but in developing countries they are killers. Mosquitos can carry diseases such as malaria, zika virus and yellow fever.
The World Health Organisation believes more than half of the world’s population is at risk from these diseases and 700,000 die annually.
But Bio-Gene believes this new partnership is a big step towards reducing this. CEO Richard Jagger said the partnership was “a major advancement for our technology in the very significant public health vertical”.
Both Recce and Bio-Gene rose just over 10 per cent this morning.