Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACHN), a leader in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs to combat the most challenging infectious diseases, today announced that it has received a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research Grant (SBIR) from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the further study and characterization of a back-up series of compounds related to its novel antibacterial, ACH-702.
The new compounds in the series to be studied demonstrate excellent inhibition of the essential bacterial enzyme DNA gyrase, and have improved metabolic stability. In particular, preliminary data show potent target inhibition of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis gyrase enzyme which translated in vitro to good antibacterial activity against drug-resistant tuberculosis.
"Over the next few months, we plan to profile and optimize several additional analogs prior to potential selection of a lead candidate for further development. We believe that this compound series has the potential to deliver a new oral and intravenous agent for the treatment of tuberculosis infections, including those caused by multi-drug resistant and extremely drug resistant strains for which there are currently limited treatment options," commented Michael Pucci, Ph.D., Senior Director of Microbiology and Principal Investigator for the NIH grant.
Achillion's tuberculosis research is a collaborative effort with Dr. Michael Cynamon of the Syracuse Veterans Administration Medical Center. Dr. Cynamon, an experienced researcher in the tuberculosis field, will perform antibacterial testing of compounds against Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates, including drug-resistant strains.
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