Lakewood-Amedex Inc. Announces Its Novel Bisphosphocin Class of Antimicrobials are Active Against NDM-1 Positive Bacterial Strains

SARASOTA, Fla., July 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Lakewood-Amedex Inc., a leading developer of novel anti-infective pharmaceuticals, announced today that a recent series of in vitro studies conducted by ImQuest BioSciences of Fredrick, MD, have demonstrated that its novel class of antimicrobials, named bisphosphocins, have proven effective at killing bacterial strains carrying the NDM-1 plasmid. These studies expand on previously published experiments demonstrating Nu-3 to be effective in killing multi-drug resistant bacteria and highlight the potential of this important new class of antimicrobials. Specifically, the studies revealed that Nu-3 was rapidly bactericidal to NDM-1 positive Klebsiella pneumonia BAA2146 and Escherichia coli BAA2469, both of which are resistant to more than 5 classes of antibiotics, generating a greater than 5 log reduction in bacterial counts or 100% kill with a fifteen minute incubation at room temperature, which is less time than these bacteria take to replicate.

This result is significant because the unique bisphosphocin mechanism of action eliminates many of the current problems in the treatment of bacterial or fungal diseases, namely the development of microbial resistance, and can eradicate slow growing or stationary bacteria and bacterial biofilms, constantly a major problem for the medical community. Traditional antibiotics only inhibit bacterial growth, typically through a single target molecule, thus requiring a prolonged exposure and that provides an opportunity for the bacteria to mutate and become resistant or dormant to avoid the antibiotic affecting them. In the case of bisphosphocins, the effect is directly bactericidal and does not depend on the bacteria being in a growth cycle, eliminating any opportunity for the development of resistance and increasing their potency when bacteria become dormant or form a biofilm.

The Company is fast tracking the development of a topical bisphosphocin formulation specifically because its rapid bactericidal activity makes it an excellent therapeutic candidate to address several unmet medical needs for clinical indications such as acute bacterial skin infection, infected diabetic foot ulcer, ophthalmic infections, and fungal infections such as onychomycosis. In addition, bisphosphocins exhibit an extremely broad spectrum of activity that is critical when addressing clinical indications where the infection may be polymicrobial, or with eye infections where there is no time to identify the infecting organism. The compounds possess an excellent safety profile and are well tolerated in vivo due to their highly specific mechanism of action that exploits a critical difference between the membranes of bacteria/fungi and the membranes of mammals, including humans.

About Lakewood-Amedex, Inc.

Lakewood-Amedex is a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing a broad portfolio of anti-infective products, including first-in-class anti-bacterial compounds, orally available nanoRNA therapeutics for acute and chronic diseases such as arthritis, inflammation, cancer, influenza, and hepatitis, and a fully human monoclonal antibody for HUS. The Company’s products and technology are covered by an extensive patent portfolio consisting of 40 granted and/or issued patents and 25 pending patent applications filed on a worldwide basis covering all major pharmaceutical markets. The Company’s lead therapeutic candidate is a novel synthetic broad spectrum anti-bacterial proven to be effective in killing a wide range of gram-positive, gram-negative, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria and is expected to enter the clinic within the next six months.

About ImQuest BioSciences (www.imquestbio.com)

ImQuest BioSciences, based in Frederick, Maryland, is a contract research organization (CRO) focused on the development of agents for the prevention and treatment of infectious disease, cancer, and inflammatory disease, as well as specialized capabilities to support the preformulation and formulation development for optimal product delivery. The company’s proprietary ImQuestSUCCESS platform has expedited the preclinical development of products through rapid identification of candidates with a high probability of clinical success by reducing the risk associated with failure during clinical development. ImQuest was named Small Business of the Year by the Tech Council of Maryland (2011) and Best Places to Work (2012) by Frederick County, Maryland. Robert W. Buckheit, Jr., Ph.D., Founder and President, was Frederick’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as “expects”, “potential”, “suggests”, “may”, “will” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements regarding our business, which are not historical facts, are “forward-looking statements” that involve risk and uncertainties, which could cause the Company’s actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from statements made as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to sufficiency of cash to fund the Company’s planned operations, risk associated with inherent uncertainty of product research and development, risk of protecting proprietary rights and competition. Forward-looking statements speak only as to the date they are made. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect the circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.

SOURCE Lakewood-Amedex Inc.