(Alliance News) - Destiny Pharma PLC on Thursday said partnering negotiations for its NTCD-M3 clinical programme are nearing finalisation.

The Brighton, England-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, focused on the development of novel medicines that can prevent life-threatening infections said the completion of a partnering agreement for its NTCD-M3 phase 3 drug is expected for early 2023.

The company said it had entered exclusive negotiations with a US pharmaceutical company to secure a commercialisation partner for NTCD-M3 - its lead asset for the prevention of clostridioides difficile infection recurrence.

Destiny Pharma also said a US and EU phase 3 development place had been defined for its XF-73 nasal gel for the prevention of post-surgical infections. The company said its target is to secure a commercialisation partner for the drug in 2023, with some early discussions already underway.

Chief Executive Officer Neil Clark said: "Our aim is to end 2023 having secured partners for both of our lead assets to complete their final Phase 3 clinical studies, registration and approval in key markets - especially the United States."

The company said good progress had also been made on its earlier pre-clinical pipeline programmes and has ended 2022 with two active dermal infection projects running in the US and China, and with the completion of the SporCov Covid-19 grant-funded collaboration, with further updates expected in the first half of 2023.

Destiny Pharma shares were up 12% trading at 37.65 pence per share on Thursday morning in London.

By Harvey Dorset, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.