Antibacterial Drug Development
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
For some start-ups, keeping pace with Big Pharma's shifting business priorities means following a path of less resistance. New companies are being formed around Big Pharma assets that no longer fit their priorities and market needs; others are fueled by novel discovery approaches based on elucidating and harnessing the power of natural genetic mechanisms.
You may also be interested in...
Molteni Therapeutics SRL
Despite the global increase in resistant bacterial infections, investment in development of new antibiotics and antimicrobials has declined over the past few years. Siena-based Molteni Therapeutics is taking a new look at antibacterials and antifungals, creating small-molecule photosensitizers activated by visible red light that destroy fungal and bacterial cells, in an approach known as antimicrobial photodynamic therapy.
MicuRx Pharmaceuticals
Like numerous other companies working to develop novel anti-bacterial drugs, MicuRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. aims to modify existing chemical scaffolds to come up with better compounds. The start-up is particularly interested in four scaffolds known to inhibit protein synthesis-a common mechanism of action for anti-bacterial drugs. While the company's CEO and CSO-both of whom were among the scientific founders of Vicuron Pharmaceuticals--can offer much from their personal experience, MicuRx is carefully mining medical literature for insights and observations that can inform specific modifications to drug molecules.
Antibiotics Start-Ups
Antibiotic R&D has always been one of the most challenging areas in biopharmaceutical drug development. Designing novel drugs that deter bacterial resistance is a technical hurdle to be sure, but it's also a commercial one: drugs doomed to rapid obsolescence don't promise a strong return on investment. There are regulatory uncertainties, too. Although FDA is now asking drug sponsors to compare the effectiveness of products against a placebo or marketed drug for some indications--for the most part, certain infections in the primary care setting--non-inferiority studies remain the norm for life-threatening infectious diseases. But the agency has yet to issue hard and fast rules on where to apply these studies and how to evaluate the use of non-inferiority margins. A recent meeting of FDA's Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee provided some clarity.