Karolinska Development AB announced that its portfolio company Biosergen has presented positive results from a clinical phase 1 study of its drug candidate BSG005, which is being developed as a treatment of fungal infection mucormycosis. The result gives hope for a change in the treatment paradigm of patients with invasive fungal infections. The double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical phase 1 study was conducted in Australia.

The study included both a single ascending dose (SAD) and a multiple ascending dose (MAD) part, and the results showed that BSG005 was safe and well tolerated. No serious adverse events were reported and, importantly, there was no negative safety signal on kidney and liver parameters. Mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, is a persistent and difficult-to-treat systemic fungal infection causing high mortality rates and the need for new efficacious and safe antifungal treatments is high.

Biosergen's lead candidate drug BSG005 is an antifungal compound that has previously been shown in toxicological studies to be safe, making it a well-positioned alternative to standard-of-care drugs, such as Amphotericin B and Ambisome. Karolinska Development's shareholding in Biosergen, through ownership by KDev Investments, amounts to 2%.