The Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research (IOI) has been awarded £1 million in funding to develop a new class of antibiotics. The funding has come from Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy (PACE) which was founded in 2023 and has a £30 million programme of funding and support to be deployed over five years.
This development at IOI is a new step in tackling the global and growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which experts say has been hampered by a lack of R&D investment. β-lactam antibiotics have been used to treat bacterial infections for decades. These antibiotics have a β-lactam ring in their chemical structure that stops bacteria from growing and developing. However, with bacteria evolving to resist the action of β-lactam antibiotics by producing β-lactamase, this class of antibiotics is gradually becoming ineffective in treating common illnesses.
To tackle this, researchers at the IOI have developed a new class of small molecule transpeptidase inhibitors that do not contain a β-lactam unit. Research by the IOI to date has shown that these new inhibitors are not degraded by many β-lactamases produced by bacteria, and they have excellent activity against a broad spectrum of Gram-negative bacteria, including resistant strains of Eschericia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
“The new small-class of molecule transpeptidase inhibitors discovered by our team at the IOI has the potential to treat many infections that have become life-threatening due to antibiotic resistance. We have a fantastic team of biochemists, microbiologists and chemists at the IOI and with the additional support from PACE, we are confident that we can take our work to the next phase of preclinical development,” said Professor Chris Schofield, Director of Chemistry at IOI.
In addition to the funding, the award from PACE includes R&D advice from a global network of experts, access to a microbiology platform and medicinal chemistry expertise.
IOI added that it will continue developing the new molecules with the ultimate aim of creating new antibiotics. As well as synthetic chemistry, biochemistry and microbiology the project will involve efficacy and safety studies to progress the new antibiotic through to preclinical development.
During 2024 the UK government launched a national five-year action plan supporting its 20-year vision to contain and control AMR by 2040. The plan builds on progress made in the previous five-year plan and incorporates lessons learned from the covid-19 pandemic. The World Heath Organization (WHO) last year also released a report highlighting concerns that along with the low number of new antibacterials in the pipeline, there is also a lack of innovation. The WHO said: ‘Looking at newly approved antibacterials since 1 July 2017, 13 new antibiotics have obtained marketing authorisation, but only two represent a new chemical class, and can be termed innovative, underscoring the scientific and technical challenge in discovering novel antibacterials that are both effective against bacteria and safe for humans.’
Further reading on antimicrobial resistance:
• What is AMR? Here’s what you need to know about antimicrobial resistance
• Antimicrobial resistance: How microplastics can increase the spread of AMR
• Reduced use of antibiotics is leading to fall in resistance
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