Preventing complications may be more efficacious and cost-effective than treating them. It kills bacteria and binds to, neutralizes and helps to clear bacterial endotoxin. It also enhances the ability of antibiotics to kill bacteria, in many cases restoring antibiotic potency against resistant strains. Additional indications will be chosen based on results from ongoing human studies and a continuing preclinical research program. Severe pediatric meningococcemia is a systemic infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis that can kill a previously healthy child within hours.
Current treatment is limited to antibiotics and supportive care.
This pivotal trial has enrolled more than 370 patients in the United States and the United Kingdom. Patients who suffer severe hemorrhage due to trauma are at risk for infectious complications, such as pneumonia, that may be caused by the translocation of gram-negative bacteria from their gastrointestinal tracts into their general circulation. Based on two previous placebo-controlled Phase II studies in a total of 570 patients, XOMA has designed a pivotal Phase III trial to enroll 1650 U.S. trauma patients. The trial is ongoing in 40 U.S. trauma centers. So far, XOMA has conducted two pilot clinical studies to explore this difficult research area in the clinic.