The company has received approval from the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to proceed with the NEFERTITI clinical study of its lead product, pHyph, a vaginal tablet for topical treatment of bacterial vaginosis (BV).

The randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study is designed to confirm safety and efficacy of pHyph and will be coordinated by Nottingham University NHS Hospitals Trust in the UK.

“This larger trial will be pivotal in demonstrating that pHyph can provide an effective and longlasting treatment alternative to antibiotics,” says Annette Säfholm, Gedea Biotech’s CEO.

The NEFERTITI trial

NEFERTITI aims to recruit 150 adult women aged 18 or over with bacterial vaginosis diagnosed by Amsel’s criteria and is due to start in October 2020. The primary objective is to investigate clinical performance of pHyph – in a smaller study reported earlier this year 82% of the women were clinically cured, defined as absence of all Amsel criteria, after 7 days. This corresponds to existing antibiotic-based treatment. After the first treatment period (day 0-7), patients that are cured will be randomized to preventive treatment, and given one tablet a week of pHyph or placebo, for four months. The follow up period will provide important data on pHyph’s impact on prevention of recurrent infections and the effect on the microbiome.

Photo of Annette Säfholm