Contract Signed With Leading CRO to Conduct Iclaprim Phase III Clinical Trials

Motif Bio plc (AIM: MTFB), the clinical stage biopharmaceutical company specialising in developing novel antibiotics, today announced the signing of a clinical trials agreement with Covance, a leading global Contract Research Organisation (CRO), and a wholly owned subsidiary of Laboratory Corporation of America^® Holdings (LabCorp^®) (NYSE: LH).  The trials under the agreement are for iclaprim, a targeted spectrum antibiotic designed to be effective against multi-drug-resistant bacteria, including MRSA.

Covance will run two Phase III randomised, double blind, multicentre clinical trials with iclaprim. The trials will evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous iclaprim versus intravenous vancomycin in the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI). In addition to Covance’s considerable experience running antibiotic trials, a key consideration for Motif in selecting Covance as its development partner, was the ability to leverage LabCorp’s powerful patient data for these trials.

David Huang, Chief Medical Officer at Motif, said: “The signing of this agreement with Covance is a great step forward for Motif and its development strategy for iclaprim, and ensures a timely start of the Phase III programme. We are now progressing with the selection of countries and investigator sites; programme study drug logistics; and submission of regulatory documents to health authorities, institutional review boards, and independent ethics committees worldwide. Motif remains firmly on track to meet its goal of marketing iclaprim in 2018.”

Notes to Editors

Motif is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, which specialises in developing novel antibiotics designed to be effective against serious and life-threatening infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria.

Iclaprim is being developed for the treatment of the most common and serious bacterial infections such as acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) and hospital acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP), including those caused by resistant strains such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and MDRSP (multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae) that have become prevalent in patients in both the community and hospital settings.

The Company is in discussions with pharmaceutical companies and universities to build a pipeline of innovative antibiotics targeting Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.