In Vivo Efficacy of Matinas BioPharma’s Oral MAT2203 in Pulmonary Mucormycosis Published in Journal of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

Studies in neutropenic mouse model demonstrate prolonged and enhanced survival, reduced fungal burden and improvement in lung infection

BEDMINSTER, N.J., April 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Matinas BioPharma Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: MTNB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on delivering groundbreaking therapies using its lipid nanocrystal (LNC) platform delivery technology, announces that MAT2203, its oral formulation of the potent antifungal amphotericin B, demonstrated efficacy compared with placebo in treating the pulmonary mucormycosis fungal infections Rhizopus delemar and M. circinelloides f. jenssenii in immunosuppressed mice. Efficacy was demonstrated by prolonged median survival time, enhanced overall survival, reduced tissue fungal burden of target organs and improved histological architecture of infected lungs. In addition, MAT2203 activity appeared to be similar to IV-amphotericin B in survival studies in the M. circinelloides f. jenssenii mouse model.

The study results are reported in the manuscript “Efficacy of an oral lipid nanocrystal (LNC) formulation of amphotericin B (MAT2203) in the neutropenic mouse model of pulmonary mucormycosis” (Gu, et al.) published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aac.01540-23). The manuscript is available on the Matinas website here.

“The promising outcomes of MAT2203 in these studies represent a significant step towards a less invasive and safer treatment approach to combating invasive mucormycosis, since unlike liposomal amphotericin B (LAMB) which is given intravenously, MAT2203 is administered orally and can be administered long-term without any of the significant toxicities associated with LAMB treatment,” said lead manuscript author Ashraf Ibrahim, PhD at the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. “It's a testament to the potential of innovative drug delivery systems like lipid nanocrystals in transforming how we treat infectious diseases."

“Mucormycosis is frequently a life-threatening infection. A review of published mucormycosis cases found an overall all-cause mortality rate of 54%. The drugs currently used to treat mucormycosis are delivered intravenously and can be toxic. MAT2203, our oral formulation of amphotericin B, has been shown to effectively and safely deliver this potent antifungal in mucormycosis and a variety of other potentially deadly invasive fungal infection through our Compassionate/Expanded Use Access Program (Program). Early results through our Program and promising in vivo studies in difficult-to-treat mucormycosis infections continue to strengthen our confidence in MAT2203’s potential efficacy and safety in treating a variety of invasive fungal infections,” commented Dr. Theresa Matkovits, Chief Development Officer at Matinas. “These results also further support the anticipated positive clinical data from our Phase 3 ORALTO registration trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of MAT2203 as an early oral step-down therapy to IV-amphotericin B in severely ill patients with invasive aspergillosis who have limited treatment options.”