SCYNEXIS, Inc. announced the presentation of preclinical efficacy data on its second-generation fungerp candidate SCY-247 at the 34thEuropean Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Barcelona, Spain from April 27-30, 2024. SCY-247 is being developed to address systemic fungal diseases, with a key focus on invasive fungal infections where resistance to current limited treatment options is a significant concern. These presentations at ECCMID 2024 continue to build upon SCY-247's positive preclinical data illustrating its unique attributes in the fight against difficult-to-treat fungal infections.

Candida auris is an emerging fungal pathogen associated with nosocomial infections and considered a serious global health threat. It is often resistant to commonly used antifungal drugs, with about 90% of U.S. C. auris samples resistant to fluconazole and some C. auris strains resistant to all three main classes of antifungals (azoles, echinocandins and polyenes). Candida glabrata is the most common non-albican species causing systemic fungal infections.

It also has high levels of resistance to fluconazole, and echinocandin resistance appears to be increasing. Patients with Candida infections that are resistant to both fluconazole and echinocandin drugs have very few treatment options. Azole-resistant Aspergillus infections are also difficult to treat, and affected patients are up to 33% more likely to die than patients with infections that can be treated with azoles.

The potent antifungal effect of SCY-247 on cell morphology of susceptible and multidrug-resistant Candida auris is illustrated utilizing Scanning Electron Microscopy imaging. SCY-247 is a second-generation antifungal compound, from a novel class of structurally-distinct glucan synthase inhibitors, triterpenoids (fungerps), being developed to address systemic fun Gal diseases. The triterpenoid class of antifungals represents the first new class of antifungal compounds since 2001.

These agents combine the well-established activity of glucan synthase inhibitors with the potential flexibility of having oral and intravenous (IV) formulations. SCY-247 is in pre-IND development stage and has demonstrated broad-spectrum antifungal activity, in vitro and in vivo. SCY-247 anticipates that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may grant SCY-247 Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) and Fast Track designations for the IV and oral formulations of SCY-247.