XF-73 is an experimental drug candidate. It is an anti-microbial which works via weakening bacteria cell walls. It is a potential treatment for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. It is also called multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus...

 (MRSA) and possibly Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile , also known as "CDF/cdf", or "C...

. It is being developed

Drug development

Drug development is a blanket term used to define the process of bringing a new drug to the market once a lead compound has been identified through the process of drug discovery...

 by Destiny Pharma Ltd.

It has completed a phase I clinical trial for nasal decolonisation of MRSA - being tested against 5 bacterial strains. It seems unlikely to cause MRSA to develop resistance to it.

Structurally it is a dicationic porphyrin

Porphyrin

Porphyrins are a group of organic compounds, many naturally occurring. One of the best-known porphyrins is heme, the pigment in red blood cells; heme is a cofactor of the protein hemoglobin. Porphyrins are heterocyclic macrocycles composed of four modified pyrrole subunits interconnected at...

.