4D pharma plc: Publication of Data on Neurodegenerative Disease Programmes

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LEEDS, England, Sept. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- 4D pharma plc (the "Company" or "4D") (AIM: DDDD), a pharmaceutical company leading the development of Live Biotherapeutics, today announces the publication of a paper outlining the ability of MRx0005 and MRx0029 to modulate neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative processes in vitro.

The paper 'In vitro characterisation of gut microbiota-derived bacterial strains with neuroprotective properties' (Ahmed et al.) is published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience.

Through screening a panel of gut bacterial strains using the Company's MicroRx® platform, 4D researchers have identified two single-strain Live Biotherapeutic candidates, MRx0005 (Parabacteroides distasonis) and MRx0029 (Megasphaera massiliensis), with potent effects on neuroinflammation and intrinsic antioxidant capacity. MRx0029 also displayed neuroprotective properties and induced a mature phenotype in undifferentiated neuronal cells. The team were able to associate many of the observed effects with specific short-chain fatty acids produced by the bacteria.

The Company has previously presented additional data demonstrating the efficacy of MRx0029 and MRx0005 in the MPTP model of Parkinson's disease.

Dr Alex Stevenson, 4D's Chief Scientific Officer, commented: "Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, are areas of high unmet need that have historically been challenging for the pharmaceutical industry. Single-strain Live Biotherapeutics present an opportunity as disease-modifying therapies to fundamentally change the way these patients are treated."

He added: "As we make good clinical progress with our lead programmes in cancer, asthma and gastrointestinal disease, our scientists continue to produce world-leading research to identify the next generation of Live Biotherapeutics."

Please find a copy of the paper here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncel.2019.00402/full

About 4D

Founded in February 2014, 4D is a world leader in the development of Live Biotherapeutics, a novel and emerging class of drugs, defined by the FDA as biological products that contain a live organism, such as a bacterium, that is applicable to the prevention, treatment or cure of a disease.  4D has developed a proprietary platform, MicroRx, that rationally identifies Live Biotherapeutics based on a deep understanding of function and mechanism.  4D's Live Biotherapeutic products are orally delivered single strains of bacteria that are naturally found in the healthy human gut.  The Company  has four clinical studies in progress, namely a Phase II clinical study of Blautix in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, a Phase I/II study of MRx0518 in combination with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in solid tumours, a Phase Ib study of MRx0518 in a neoadjuvant setting for patients with solid tumours and a Phase I/II study of MRx-4DP0004 in asthma. Other focus programmes include disease areas such as CNS disease. 

For more information, refer to https://www.4dpharmaplc.com/

SOURCE 4D pharma plc

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