Bacterial resistance remains one of the biggest obstacles to antibiotic efficacy and spurs the constant search for next-generation antimicrobials. Oxacins can kill bacteria by inhibiting the activity of DNA gyrase. As potential next-generation oxacin-like drugs, researchers at Southwest University and collaborators have developed thiazolylcyanovinyl benzopyridone acids, among which the ethyl compound [I] turned out to be effective at killing several gram-negative and -positive bacterial strains in vitro as well as Klebsiella pneumonia in biofilms. It also eliminated wound infection in mice, without causing obvious off-target toxicity.

Appili Therapeutics Inc. and its partner Vitalex Biosciences LLC have announced that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded up to $40 million in funding to support the development of VXV-01, a vaccine aimed at protecting against invasive fungal infections.

Around the globe, fungal infections affect more than 1 billion people and account for several million deaths every year. They pose a particular problem in low- and middle-income countries, where antifungal drugs may be less available and, even if available, may prove ineffective because of fungal resistance. These considerations highlight the need for a next generation of antifungals.

GC Biopharma Corp. has filed an IND application with the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) for a phase I trial of GC-4006A, an mRNA vaccine candidate for COVID-19.

Globally, over half of people living with HIV are women. But in clinical cure trials, they make up only about 20% of participants. And that gender imbalance is causing researchers to miss out on ways to improve cure strategies. Because women’s immune systems appear to be better at controlling HIV infection in a way that silences the reservoir – the provirus integrated into host cells in infected persons.