ContraFect Announces Agreement With The Rockefeller University for New Staph Lysin - MarketWatch.
ContraFect Corporation, the company that is pioneering the use of recombinant proteins for the treatment of drug-resistant bacteria, announced that it has licensed from The Rockefeller University the latest and most potent Lysin enzyme discovered to date. Lysins are enzymes that dissolve and kill tens of millions of bacteria in seconds. Each Lysin is specific to a single type of bacteria and does not cause the side effects or drug resistance that commonly occur with antibiotics and renders them ineffective. Lysins are remarkably safe, reacting only with targeted bacteria and have no effect on human cells. Robert Nowinski, CEO and Chairman of ContraFect, said, "With the addition of this latest Lysin (referred to as CF-301), our second against Staphylococcus, ContraFect has added depth to its clinical program and pipeline. CF-301 is an extraordinary enzyme; it is produced by fermentation at concentrations exceeding 5g/L, is soluble, stable and potent." The Lysin was discovered by Dr. Vincent Fischetti at The Rockefeller University, who is the first scientist to produce a recombinant Lysin for therapeutic and prophylactic use.
