SYDNEY, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Researchers in Australia hailed positive Phase II trial results for a sepsis drug candidate, targeting one of the leading causes of death.
The sepsis drug candidate was a carbohydrate-based drug called STC3141, said a statement of Australia's Griffith University on Thursday.
"The trial met the key endpoints to indicate the drug candidate was successful in reducing sepsis in humans," said Distinguished Professor Mark von Itzstein at Griffith's Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics.
Administered via infusion, the small-molecule experimental drug counteracts harmful biological molecule release during sepsis and could treat the disease by reversing organ damage, the statement said.
Von Itzstein co-developed the drug candidate with Professor Christopher Parish's team at the Australian National University.
Sepsis affects millions of hospitalized patients each year when the immune response to infection attacks the body's own tissues and organs, potentially leading to septic shock, multiple organ failure and death, the researchers said.
Currently, there is no specific anti-sepsis therapy available, making this a clinical unmet need, they said.
Conducted by Grand Pharmaceutical Group Limited, the trial paves the way for Phase III testing, von Itzstein said.
"It's hoped we could see the treatment reach the market in a handful of years, potentially saving millions of lives," he said. ■
