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ICAAC: New Antibiotic, MBI 594AN, Shows Promise in Treating Acne By Pamela G. Hunter Special to DG News CHICAGO, IL -- December 17, 2001 -- Acne is a disfiguring, superficial skin disease caused by excessive growth of the bacterium Propionibacterium acnes, stimulated by the presence of excessive amounts of sebum often produced at puberty, and accompanied by an inflammatory response. Current therapy is by the antibiotics erythromycin or tetracycline, by retinoids or by therapy aimed at reducing the hormone levels, which in turn will reduce the sebum levels. Antibiotics have been the mainstay of treatment and have been in use for over three decades, but the incidence of resistance to these antibacterials among strains of P. acnes is now high, reducing the efficacy of standard treatments. Other methods of treatment have major disadvantages. MBI 594AN (MBI) is a new, synthetic, cationic, peptide, antibacterial agent against which resistance in P. acnes has not been seen. The compound acts by damaging the bacterial membrane, resulting in the rapid death of treated bacteria. MBI is in Phase II trials for use as a topical agent for the treatment of acne. Dr. Patricia McNicol, of Micrologix Biotech Inc., in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, presented data on the activity of MBI as an anti-inflammatory agent in experimental models, yesterday (Dec. 16), at the 41st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), in Chicago, Illinois. Results show that MBI inhibits both acute and delayed-type hypersensitivity responses in a murine model. In addition, in a Phase I placebo-controlled study, resistance to MBI did not develop among the strains of P. acnes present in 36 patients treated for six weeks. Nine of these isolates were tested for susceptibility to erythromycin and tetracycline; six were resistant to erythromycin and three were resistant to tetracycline. The compound was well tolerated and was thus progressed to Phase II studies. In a Phase II, randomised, placebo-controlled study, 75 patients with moderate to severe acne were treated with MBI for six weeks. The effect was assessed on a severity scoring system and results are anticipated shortly. E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version