New Program Prepares To Target Novel Antibiotics

By Ed Miseta, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader

It’s no secret to anyone in the life science industry that the world is facing new strains of infection that are growing increasingly resistant to existing antibiotics. This would not be a problem if new drugs were being developed and making their way to physicians. Unfortunately, in the last 30 years, only two new classes of antibiotics have made it to market. Gram-negative bacteria, such as E-coli, are able to resist antibiotics, making effective treatment difficult. These bacteria make development of effective medicines difficult.

To overcome the financial, scientific, and clinical challenges they present, GlaxoSmithKline and Uppsala University are bringing together over 30 European companies and universities to develop novel antibiotics. The six-year program, called ENABLE (European Gram Negative Antibacterial Engine), will be funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). It brings together 32 partners spread out over 13 countries. The IMI is a research partnership between the European Commission and Big Pharma.

“MEDINA brings to the project one of the novel antibiotic molecules that will be developed within this partnership,” says Olga Genilloud, Scientific Director at MEDINA. “Our participation in this programme represents a fantastic opportunity to jointly develop one of our most advanced compounds in our pipeline. MEDINA offers a unique and longstanding expertise in drug discovery. We are committed with the global research effort for the discovery of new antibiotics, as continuity of a long history of success which has resulted in some of the most important breakthrough drugs available to patients today.”

SOURCE:

http://www.b3cnewswire.com/201402121030/85million-european-programme-targets-novel-antibiotics.html