Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics Inc. (CFFT) will provide up to $1.7 million to Alaxia SAS to expedite development and test the safety of a potential inhaled therapy that may fight drug-resistant bacteria that pose a serious health risk to people with cystic fibrosis. CFFT is the nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The drug ALX-009 is a combination of two substances that are naturally found in healthy lungs and help the immune system fight infections. These two antimicrobial molecules -- the hypothiocyanite anion and the protein lactoferrin -- are not present or are deficient in lungs with cystic fibrosis. 

Laboratory tests have shown that ALX-009 has been effective in killing bacteria in lung mucus and biofilms, interwoven layers of bacteria and other material that make bacteria resistant to drugs, according to Annie-Claude Benichou, M.D., chief medical officer of Alaxia. 

Alaxia tested the drug against a wide range of bacterial species that infect people with CF, particularly drug-resistant bacteria such as Burkholderia cepacia complex (B. cepacia), Achromobacter xylosoxidans and some strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

A Phase 1 clinical trial to test for safety is underway in France, where Alaxia is based. The trial should be complete by next spring, according to Dr. Benichou.