The accepted wisdom that resistance to antibiotics is a modern phenomenon driven by their overuse is called into question by new research showing the genes that give methicillin-resistant Staphylococcusaureus (MRSA) its superbug status existed in nature long before antibiotics were first deployed in the clinic.
“I was not always someone who would have advertised probiotics,” Michael Otto told BioWorld. And it’s easy to see why. At this point, probiotics are more often dubious wellness offerings than evidence-based therapeutics. Part of the issue is that the mechanisms by which probiotics are supposed to exert their effects are mostly vague. Molecular mechanisms that could account for claimed health benefits are few and far between. But Otto, who is chief of the pathogen molecular genetics section at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and his colleagues have identified one such molecular mechanism.
Micurx Pharmaceuticals Inc. has won marketing approval from China's NMPA for its lead antibacterial, contezolid, for treating adults with complicated skin and soft tissue infection (cSSTI), marking the first NDA for the Shanghai drugmaker. Set to be marketed as Youxitai in China, Micurx discovered the new-generation oral oxazolidinone antibiotic, developing it over 12 years. It’s designed to treat multidrug-resistant gram-positive bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci.
PERTH, Australia – Synthetic cannabinoid company Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced top-line data from a phase IIa study showing that two different formulations of BTX-1801, a synthetic cannabidiol (CBD), eradicated Staphylococcus aureus (staph) in the nose, meeting study endpoints for safety and efficacy.
PERTH, Australia – Synthetic cannabinoid company Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced top-line data from a phase IIa study showing that two different formulations of BTX-1801, a synthetic cannabidiol, eradicated Staphylococcus aureus (staph) in the nose, meeting study endpoints for safety and efficacy.
PERTH, Australia – Sydney-based Recce Pharmaceuticals Ltd. completed a placement of AU$27.95 million (US$19.69 million) to advance its synthetic anti-infective pipeline to address antibiotic-resistant superbugs and emerging viral pathogens.
Armata Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s recent $15 million award for a three-year program from the U.S. Department of Defense to partially fund a phase Ib/II study added to the already growing resurgence of notice for phage-based therapeutics, with even big pharma starting to take heed.
LONDON – Novo Repair has made new investments of $12 million, bringing the total invested by the specialist anti-infectives venture capital fund since it was set up two years ago to plug the gap in the early stage pipeline to $48 million.
BOGOTA, Colombia – Researchers at the National University of Córdoba, in Córdoba, Argentina, have developed a technique to optimize the biofunctions of surfaces and inhibit microorganisms such as Staphylococcus aureus from adhering to and building colonies on solid substrates’ surfaces.
After its momentum-building end-of-phase II meeting with the FDA, Contrafect Corp. will start a single phase III trial of exebacase to treat Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia before year-end.
