[3][4][5] HDPs, also called antimicrobial peptides, some of which are defensins, are part of the innate immune response and are common to most higher forms of life.

[citation needed] Brilacidin is an antibiotic that works by disrupting bacterial cell membranes, mimicking defensins that play a role in innate immunity.

Due to this unique mechanism of action (mimicking the host's natural immune response, proven to be successful in fighting off infections over millions of years of evolution), bacterial antibiotic resistance is less likely to develop.

The World Health Organization, warning of a "post-antibiotic era" has stated that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a "problem so serious that it threatens the achievements of modern medicine".

The primary endpoint was clinical success in the intent-to-treat population, defined as reduction of at least 20% in area of the ABSSSI lesion, relative to baseline, when observed 48–72 hours after the first dose of study drug, and no rescue antibiotics administered.

Various primary and secondary outcome measures were recorded to assess efficacy of brilacidin-OM to prevent or reduce the severity of oral mucositis in patients receiving chemo-radiation.

Development is ongoing for numerous brilacidin analogs, selected by laboratory testing of the various HDP mimetics and defensin-mimetic compounds in the antibiotic pipeline.

Pre-clinical research has been shown select brilacidin analogs effective in killing a variety of important Gram-negative pathogens (the so-called superbugs), such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter baumannii as well as highly multi-drug resistant ndm-1-producing K.

[38] An abstract update on these efforts was presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (ECCMID) 2015 annual conference.

[40] Also acquired with brilacidin and the HDP-mimetic pipeline were the rights to the related PolyCide family of compounds, polymeric formulations that function as antimicrobial agents.