According to the World Health Organization (WHO), multidrug-resistant pathogens caused over 1.27 million deaths worldwide in 2020. And figures are rising, with projections pointing to antimicrobial resistance surpassing cancer as the leading cause of death by 2050. Now, researchers at the HUN-REN Biological Research Center have unveiled the role of pre-existing genetic variabilities and specific cross-resistance patterns among several antibiotics designed to combat gram-positive bacteria.
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. has been awarded an additional $7.3 million from CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) to support the progression of the company’s novel antibiotic candidate, BAL-2420.
Researchers from the University of Washington are developing new antibiotics targeting bacterial methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MetRS). This enzyme is responsible for charging tRNA(met) with methionine and integral to protein synthesis.
Bioversys AG has joined the EU-funded RespiriNTM program that is exploring multiple approaches to determine new targets for antimycobacterial compounds, define and optimize novel inhibitors and advance these through the process of hit-to-lead up until first-in-human trials.
RTI International has divulged vancomycin derivatives with siderophore modification reported to be useful for the treatment of gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial infections.
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. has been awarded a grant from CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) to support initial preclinical activities on the antibiotics program recently acquired from Spexis.
CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) has announced an award of $1.06 million to the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) to develop a new class of small-molecule inhibitors of bacterial sliding clamp (DnaN), a pivotal component of DNA replication machinery, which is a clinically unproven but promising novel mechanism for targeting bacteria.
Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X), led by Boston University, is awarding $1.2 million to the Andrew G. Myers Research Group at Harvard University to develop a series of enhanced oral antibiotics that directly target a range of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which cause serious lower respiratory tract and skin and soft tissue infections.
Making them an antibiotic of last resort, the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency introduced new restrictions on the use of fluoroquinolones due to the risk of potentially long-term or irreversible side effects.
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Spexis AG for a preclinical program of antibiotics from a novel class, targeting gram-negative bacteria, including multidrug-resistant strains.
