Safety and Clinical Efficacy of Ovine Polyclonal Antibodies (OraCAb) for the Treatment of Mild, Moderate and Severe Clostridioides Difficile Infection (CDI)

A single oral dose of antibodies harvested from sheep could replace the current standard of care for severe *C. difficile* infections, a gut infection that kills thousands of patients each year. The problem is that existing treatments for *C. difficile*—antibiotics like vancomycin and fidaxomicin—are blunt instruments. They kill the bacteria but do not neutralise the two toxins (TcdA and TcdB) that actually damage the gut lining and cause life-threatening inflammation. Many patients relapse after treatment because the toxins linger. This project tests whether a liquid suspension of purified sheep antibodies, called OraCAb, can safely bind and neutralise those toxins directly in the gut, regardless of the severity of the infection. If the clinical trial in Kenya and Australia shows that OraCAb is safe and reduces symptoms, it would offer a fundamentally different approach: a targeted, toxin-neutralising therapy that works alongside antibiotics. For patients with severe CDI, this could mean faster recovery, fewer relapses, and lower mortality. For the health system, it could reduce the need for intensive care and repeated hospital stays. The manufacturing process—raising antibodies in sheep—is also relatively low-cost and scalable, which matters for a disease that disproportionately affects elderly and hospitalised patients worldwide.