Beyond Air Publishes New Data on Nitric Oxide to Treat M. Abscessus in the Peer-Reviewed Journal Access Microbiology

Heterogeneity in M. abscessus susceptibility to NO

Longer treatment regimens could be required to see reduction or eradication of more resistant pulmonary strains

GARDEN CITY, N.Y., Aug. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beyond Air, Inc. (NASDAQ: XAIR), a clinical-stage medical device and biopharmaceutical company focused on developing inhaled nitric oxide (NO) for the treatment of patients with respiratory conditions, including serious lung infections and pulmonary hypertension, and gaseous NO for the treatment of solid tumors, today announced that the results from a compassionate use patient case study using NO to treat pulmonary Mycobacterium abscessus disease (M. abscessus disease) at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, was published in a scientific article, “Antibacterial Activity of High-dose Nitric Oxide against Pulmonary Mycobacterium abscessus Disease” in the August 2020 edition of Access Microbiology, a peer-reviewed journal published by the Microbiology Society, https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/acmi/fasttrack.

The study evaluated the effect of inhaled NO therapy delivered via the LungFit System, with inhaled NO doses titrated up to 240ppm, as compassionate treatment in a 24-year-old, female cystic fibrosis (CF) patient with chronic and progressive pulmonary M. abscessus disease. The patient had an eight-year history of M. abscessus refractory to treatment with multiple drug combinations. The patient had progressive deterioration in lung function, functional status, and quality of life, and was denied lung transplantation consideration at multiple centers in the US and Canada due to chronic M. abscessus lung infection. In addition to treatment of the patient, the study examined the response of the patient’s bacterial isolate to high-dose NO relative to other clinical M. abscessus isolates by performing in vitro susceptibility tests using an NO exposure chamber.

The patient completed the first three-week treatment course with no significant adverse effects noted. The course of treatment included 160 parts per million (ppm) inhaled NO for 30 minutes every three to four hours daily, five times a day, for 14 days, followed by three times per day for days 15-21. In general, the patient noted improved respiratory symptoms and quality of life and had small improvements in her lung function, six-minute walk distance, and inflammatory markers but no significant change in tests and cultures for M. abscessus.