Recce Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Global Infectious Disease Expert Professor Philip Sutton to H. Pylori Development Program

SYDNEY, Australia, Aug. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: RCE) (Company), the Company developing new classes of synthetic anti-infectives, today announced the appointment of Professor Philip Sutton to their Clinical Advisory Committee and Head of the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) stomach bacteria development program.

“Professor Sutton joins us at an exciting time as we expand our anti-infective pipeline to include RECCE^® 435, a broad-spectrum synthetic polymer antibiotic formulated for oral use, which recently demonstrated dose-dependent efficacy against H. pylori in an animal model,” said Recce Pharmaceuticals Non-Executive Chairman Dr. John Prendergast. “We believe Professor Sutton’s extensive experience will help guide our development of this new drug candidate.”

Professor Sutton brings more than 30 years of research and industry experience in immunology, inflammatory disease and H. pylori bacteria, having served as the former Head of Immunology at CSL Limited in Melbourne. He was Chief Editor of a textbook on the subject titled “Helicobacter pylori in the 21st Century” and has co-authored 92 manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals. Professor Sutton currently leads the Mucosal Immunology Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Victoria, Australia with a specific interest in infections caused by the H. pylori bacterium due to its prominence and link to stomach ulcers and gastric cancer.

Professor Sutton said, "I greatly look forward to working with the Recce team to investigate RECCE® 435 against H. pylori.”

It is estimated that H. pylori infections are present in half the world’s population.¹ Increasing drug-resistance led an expert World Health Organization panel to identify finding new antibiotics against H. pylori, which remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, is a top priority.² Due to this, the FDA have also included H. pylori as a bacterium qualifying for their QIDP programme.

During Professor Sutton’s 30 years in research, he further applied immunology to such fields as organ transplantation, fungal pathogenesis, parasitology, bacterial pathogenesis, vaccine adjuvant technologies, the design of novel vaccines against specific pathogens and host regulation of inflammatory diseases. Professor Sutton received a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science from Bradford University (UK), followed by a Ph.D. in Immunology at Manchester University.

In consideration for the services provided, the Company will pay Professor Sutton an agreed amount on commercial terms, which will not have a material financial impact to the Company.

About Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd

Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: RCE) is pioneering the development and commercialisation of New Classes of Synthetic Anti-Infectives designed to address the urgent global health problems of antibiotic resistant superbugs and emerging viral pathogens.

Recce’s anti-infective pipeline is unique and comprised of broad-spectrum synthetic polymer antibiotics RECCE^® 327 and RECCE^® 435, and RECCE^® 529 for viral infections with unique mechanisms of action against hyper-mutation on bacteria and viruses, respectively.

Patented lead candidate RECCE^® 327 has been developed for the treatment of blood infections and sepsis derived from E. coli and S. aureus bacteria – including their superbug forms. Recce’s new antibiotic compound, RECCE^® 435, has been formulated for oral use.

The FDA has awarded RECCE^® 327 Qualified Infectious Disease Product designation under the Generating Antibiotic Initiatives Now (GAIN) Act – labelling it for Fast Track Designation, plus 10 years of market exclusivity post approval.

Recce wholly owns its automated manufacturing, ready to support first-in-human clinical trials. Recce’s anti-infective pipeline seeks to exploit the unique capabilities of RECCE^® technologies targeting synergistic, unmet medical needs.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

¹ https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/h-pylori/symptoms-causes/syc-20356171

² https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29276051/