2. Academic Validation
  3. Ibrexafungerp: A Novel Oral Triterpenoid Antifungal in Development for the Treatment of Candida auris Infections

Ibrexafungerp: A Novel Oral Triterpenoid Antifungal in Development for the Treatment of Candida auris Infections

  • Antibiotics (Basel). 2020 Aug 25;9(9):539. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics9090539.
Mahmoud Ghannoum 1,  Maiken Cavling Arendrup 2 3 4,  Vishnu P Chaturvedi 5,  Shawn R Lockhart 6,  Thomas S McCormick 1,  Sudha Chaturvedi 5,  Elizabeth L Berkow 6,  Deven Juneja 7,  Bansidhar Tarai 7,  Nkechi Azie 8,  David Angulo 8,  Thomas J Walsh 9
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Dermatology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
  • 2 Unit of Mycology, Statens Serum Institut, DK-2300 Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • 3 Department of Clinical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • 4 Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark.
  • 5 New York State Department of Health Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY 12201, USA.
  • 6 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
  • 7 Max Super Specialty Hospital, 110017 New Delhi, India.
  • 8 Scynexis Inc., 1 Evertrust Plaza, 13th Floor, Jersey City, NJ 07302, USA.
  • 9 Transplantation-Oncology Infectious Diseases Program, Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University, New York, NY 10065, USA.
PMID: 32854252 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics9090539
Abstract

Candida auris is an emerging multidrug-resistant Fungal pathogen reported worldwide. Infections due to C. auris are usually nosocomial and associated with high rates of fluconazole resistance and mortality. Echinocandins are utilized as the first-line treatment. However, echinocandins are only available intravenously and are associated with increasingly higher rates of resistance by C. auris. Thus, a need exists for novel treatments that demonstrate potent activity against C. auris. Ibrexafungerp is a first-in-class triterpenoid Antifungal agent. Similar to echinocandins, ibrexafungerp inhibits (1→3)-β-D-glucan synthase, a key component of the Fungal cell wall, resulting in fungicidal activity against Candida spp. Ibrexafungerp demonstrates broad in vitro activity against various Candida spp. including C. auris and C. auris isolates with fks mutations. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC50 and MIC90) values in >400 C. auris isolates were 0.5 μg/mL and 1.0 μg/mL, respectively. Clinical results were reported for two patients with invasive candidiasis or candidemia due to C. auris treated during the CARES (Candidiasis Caused by Candida Auris) trial, an ongoing open-label study. These patients experienced a complete response after treatment with ibrexafungerp. Thus, ibrexafungerp represents a promising new Antifungal agent for treating C. auris infections.

Keywords

Candida auris; antifungal; ibrexafungerp; resistance.

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