ViroPharma data shows NTCD protects against BI strain of C. difficile in hamster model

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., June 27 - ViroPharma Inc. said new data from preclinical studies showed non-toxigenic clostridium difficile (NTCD) to be protective against the hypervirulent BI strain of C. difficile in a hamster model.

In addition, NTCD displayed higher adherence to human mucosal cells compared to the BI strain and to traditional strains of C. difficile, which can colonize in the lower gastrointestinal tract and produce toxins.

In the study, animals were orally inoculated with one of two strains of NTCD and then challenged with either a historic BI strain (BI1) or the BI strain.

Inoculation with the M3 strain prevented fatal C. difficile-associated disease in 9 out of 10 hamsters challenged with BI6 and in 10 of 10 challenged with BI1.

Inoculation with the T7 strain prevented fatal disease in 5 of 10 hamsters challenged with BI6 and in 10 of 10 challenged with BI1.

"These data are important, as they demonstrate that non-toxigenic C. difficile protects in an animal model against the dangerous hypervirulent strain of C. difficile that appears to be responsible for an epidemic of C. difficile-associated disease that is spreading throughout the United States, Canada and Europe," chief scientific officer Colin Broom said in a company news release.

ViroPharma presented the data at the 5th International Meeting on the Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis of Clostridia in the United Kingdom.

ViroPharma is a biopharmaceutical company located in Exton, Pa.

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