Antibiotic resistance is a global threat. Since the 1940s populations have benefited from antibiotics and patients have survived many post-operative infections from pathogenic bacteria. The overuse (perhaps misuse) of antibiotics over the subsequent decades has led to several species of bacteria acquiring resistance. In the past decade, the extent of antibiotic resistant bacteria has put vulnerable people at risk, especially the old, young and those with compromised immune systems.
The driver for the pharmaceutical industry to develop new antibiotics does not exist through the free market: the returns on investment are not present for an industry driven by profit and shareholder maximization. Most of the development work for new antimicrobial compounds has come from the university sector and pharmaceutical company development has happened through government grants.
Outside of this, smaller companies have also been making a contribution. One such initiative is between Auspherix, a pre-clinical anti-infectives company founded by researchers at the University of Technology Sydney, and the drug discovery firm Domainex. The project between these two organizations began in 2014, with efforts intensifying during 2015, and with additional funds for research mooted for 2016.
The aim of the project is to review and shift through target chemicals and to select drug candidates for pre-clinical research. For 2016, PharmaFile reports, additional scientific staff will be taken on.
Discussing the future scope of works, the Chief executive of Domainex, Eddy Littler, said: “We are very pleased to have expanded our partnership with Auspherix. This is a strong endorsement of the inventiveness, productivity and client-focus of our drug discovery services team. We will undertake further lead optimization studies to build on the excellent progress made to date. Together with Auspherix, we are focused on the identification of novel pre-clinical drug candidates to address the growing global burden of multi-drug resistant bacterial diseases.”
In addition to this new imitative, one root of antibiotic resistance is from animals to people. To assess this, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is running a public consultation on how to assess the risks of antimicrobial resistance passing from food animals to human.
