Aquapharm announces discovery of novel antibiotic compound

Posted On: August 6, 2012

Scottish biotechnology company Aquapharm Biodiscovery has discovered a novel antibiotic compound with potent activity against a broad spectrum of multi-drug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria.

The compound, which demonstrates bactericidal potency against 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 is the company’s first new drug-lead with confirmed in vivo efficacy and commercial potential.

Aquapharm’s ‘AQP-182’ is one of the novel drug-like molecules identified by Aquapharm from its collection of more than 10,000 marine micro-organisms.

The firm has screened a fraction of its collection against selected anti-infective and anti-inflammatory targets, and has already identified 16 molecules of interest.

These include five novel antibiotic compounds comprising two distinct chemical scaffolds that are currently in preclinical development at Aquapharm for the treatment of bacterial infections resistant to existing therapies.

The most advanced of these molecules, according to Aquapharm’s Chief Scientific Officer Dr Tim Morley, is AQP-182 due to its potent activity against multi-drug resistant Gram-positive bacteria with in-vitro minimum-inhibitory-concentrations (MICs) against MDRSA below 0.016ug/ml.

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From Issue 15 • Categories: Tags: antibiotic, AQP-182, Aquapharm Biodiscovery, Aquapreneur, marine bioprospecting, marine biotechnology, marine drugs, marine ingredients, marine natural product, marine organism, MDRSA, MDRSP, pharmaceutical • No Comments