A significant discovery in the development of next-generation
antibiotics has been made by Scottish biotechnology company Aquapharm.
The firm has discovered a new antibiotic compound thought to be
effective against a broad spectrum of Multi-Drug Resistant bacteria
including Multi-Drug Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MDRSA) and
Multi-Drug resistant Streptococcus Pneumoniae (MDRSP), Clostridium
Difficile and Enteroccocus Faecalis which are common causes of death in
patients in hospital care units.
The compound, 'AQP-182', is one of a number of druggable new molecules
identified by Aquapharm from its collection of more than 10,000 marine
micro-organisms.
Its scientists recently screened a fraction of the collection to look
for micro-organisms which may have anti-infective and anti-inflammatory
properties - and discovered 16 compounds with potent pharmacological
potential.
Five new chemical entities, including AQP-182, are now in preclinical
development at Aquapharm for the treatment of bacterial infections
resistant to existing therapies.
Dr. Tim Morley, Aquapharm's Chief Scientific Officer, said: "We are very
pleased with the output of our drug discovery platform based on marine
microorganisms. From an initial screening of a small portion of our
natural product library we have identified 16 novel compounds belonging
to totally novel and diverse chemical classes. The most advanced
compound AQP-182 has a promising pharmacological and pharmacokinetic
profile which is extremely relevant for the treatment of hard to treat
resistant bacterial infections".