Matinas Biopharma Holdings is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of safe and effective broad spectrum antifungal and anti-bacterial therapeutics for the treatment of serious and life-threatening infections. The company’s proprietary, disruptive technology utilizes lipid-crystal nano-particle cochleate to nano-encapsulate existing drugs, making them safer, more tolerable, less toxic and orally available. Matinas’s lead drug candidate, MAT2203, is an orally administered, encochleated formulation of amphotericin B, an antifungal drug currently used intravenously to treat a variety of fungal infections.
Last month, Matinas took a significant step in the development of MAT2203 when it announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had designated the candidate as a qualified infectious disease product (QIDP) with fast track status. These designations make the candidate eligible for priority review and expedited development processes in the future, as well as providing up to five years of additional marketing exclusivity following FDA approval.
In a phase IA clinical study, MAT2203 demonstrated a positive safety and tolerability profile with no serious or dose-related adverse events reported. In collaboration with the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, the company plans to commence a phase IIA clinical study of MAT2203 in patients with refractory mucocutaneous candidiasis in the coming weeks.
“While the antifungal amphotericin B has demonstrated little or no resistance in clinical practice, it currently has limited treatment use in fungal infections due to severe toxicity issues,” Roelof Rongen, president and chief executive officer of Matinas, stated in a news release. “We believe MAT2203 has the potential to bring a much needed effective, broad-spectrum and significantly less toxic antifungal to at-risk patients with invasive and resistant fungal infections.”
In addition to MAT2203, Matinas’s development pipeline includes MAT2501, an orally-administered formulation of amikacin currently being developed for the treatment of gram-negative and intracellular bacterial infections; and MAT9001, a prescription-only omega-3 fatty acid-based composition being developed for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia.
Through the utilization of its proprietary lipid-crystal nano-particle cochleate formulation technology, Matinas is in a favorable strategic position to become a leader in the safe and effective delivery of anti-infective therapies. Look for the company to continue leaning on the cumulative multi-decade pharmaceutical development and commercialization experience of its management team in order to make continued strides toward the commercialization of its promising developmental candidates.
For more information, visit www.matinasbiopharma.com
