Benzinga | Jan 4, 2021 08:04AM EST

Hoth Therapeutics Announces Licensing Agreement And Collaboration With U.S. Army Medical Research And Development Command For Treating Multi-Drug Resistant Bacterial Lung Infections

NEW YORK, Jan. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoth Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTH), a biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has entered into a Non-Exclusive Commercial Evaluation License Agreement with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) for a new molecular entity (NME) developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research with a novel antibacterial mechanism of action that targets multiple bacterial pathogens.

While this NME (to be developed under the identifier "HT-006") has the potential to treat many different types of bacterial infections, Hoth will initially target treatment of serious bacterial infections of the lung, such as hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Both HAP and VAP are considered life-threatening diseases for which current treatment options are limited or not effective against multi-drug resistance bacteria. As such, Hoth intends to pursue streamlined development opportunities under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) program for "antibacterial therapies for patients with an unmet medical need for the treatment of serious bacterial diseases." This streamlined program allows for the use of nonclinical animal studies to reduce clinical studies required for approval.

Preclinical studies investigating the minimal inhibitory concentration of HT-006 for various multi-drug resistant bacterial species are planned to start in Q1 2021.

Licensing through the USAMRDC provides a unique opportunity to collaborate with U.S. Army laboratory resources and experts during development of the technology, including the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and The U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory. Hoth intends to collaborate with USAMRDC experts and utilize the laboratory resources during development of HT-006.

"Hoth is proud to be partnering with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command on such an extensive and innovative endeavor," stated Dr. Stefanie Johns Chief Scientific Officer of Hoth Therapeutics. "We are excited about the potential impact that novel antibiotic treatments with HT-006 can have on the millions of patients that are afflicted with pneumonia."