Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

Glox Therapeutics has raised £4.3M ($5.2M) in seed funding to develop targeted therapeutics against antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. The company will use the funding to establish laboratories in Oxford and Glasgow and expand its team to accelerate its bacteriocin development programme. Glox Therapeutics is developing precision antibiotics using engineered protein bacteriocins. These novel antimicrobials effectively and […]

Genome sequencing has been used to study typhoid fever in a study in Zimbabwe and understand how the disease has evolved to be resistant to treatment. Typhoid fever claims over 135,000 lives annually. Treating it relies on antimicrobials but in the last couple of decades, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has made controlling it much harder. This […]

A partnership has been set up to promote the development of new treatments to tackle the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Innovate UK, LifeArc, and Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) have joined forces to create PACE (Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy), a £30 ($36) million initiative supporting early-stage innovation against AMR. PACE will select, invest […]

Dr Luke Clifton, Instrument Scientist at ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, explains the molecular mechanism behind antibiotics. Since the initial large-scale production and widespread use of antibiotics in the 1940s there has been a continual race between the development of antibiotics and bacterial resistance to them1,2. Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, warned, as early […]

Diana Spencer speaks to Christopher Reid, Professor of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Bryant University, in Rhode Island, US, to understand the issue of antimicrobial resistance, why there are so few new antibiotics in development and where the drug discovery opportunities can be found. The scale of the crisis In July 2023, a report by […]

New powerful antibiotic Clovibactin seems capable of combating harmful bacteria, and even multi-resistant ‘superbugs’, in a way that makes it more difficult for bacteria to develop resistance against it.   Researchers from Utrecht University (Netherlands), Bonn University (Germany), the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Northeastern University of Boston (USA), and NovoBiotic Pharmaceuticals (USA) shared the […]

The UK government has announced up to £210 ($267) million of funding to partner with countries across Asia and Africa to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and reduce the threat posed to the UK. The announcement follows the £39 ($48) million investment through the Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF) in May. The money is intended to pay […]

The Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP) is joining forces with Indian biopharmaceutical company Bugworks Research to accelerate the development of a new broad-spectrum antibiotic compound. The compound being developed by Bugworks, BWC0977, is aimed at treating patients with serious bacterial infections in both critical care and community settings. BWC0977 has the potential to […]

A report by University of Queensland (UQ) researchers has warned a global crisis of antibiotic resistance is inevitable, despite promising developments in new antibiotics. The Centre for Superbug Solutions at UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience has monitored the clinical pipeline for more than a decade, with its latest snapshot showing 62 new antibiotics in development. […]

Frequent and diverse use of antibiotics may be associated with developing more severe outcomes after a Covid-19 infection, including death, UK scientists have shown. The findings, funded by Health Data Research UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), act as a warning against the overuse of antibiotics in people. The team […]

Genes that make bacteria resistant to antibiotics are much more widespread in our environment than was previously realised. A new study, from Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, shows that bacteria in almost all environments carry resistance genes. “We have identified new resistance genes in places where they have remained […]

The UK government will invest up to £39 ($48) million in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research through the Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF). The funding includes up to £25 ($30.9) million awarded to support the early development of new antibiotics, vaccines, rapid diagnostics and other products to combat life-threatening drug-resistant infections. The money will bolster the […]

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Gedea Biotech’s patent application 16/753,899 directed to gluconic acid derivatives for preventing and/or treating bacterial infections. The patent can be kept in force until 2038. The specific derivative Glucone-delta lactone (GDL) in pHyph is a well-documented substance with a low risk of developing antimicrobial resistance. […]

University of Queensland (UQ) researchers have led a national study on the four main bacteria that cause sepsis, providing new targets for developing antibiotics. Professor Mark Walker and Professor Mark Schembri from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience, along with Dr Andre Mu from the University of Melbourne and teams from 23 research organisations around Australia, […]

UK-based Cystic fibrosis (CF) Syndicate in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has announced a £3 million ($3.6 million) Collaborative Discovery Programme for drug discovery innovators to accelerate the development of new treatments for people with CF. Funded by UK medical research charity LifeArc, the programme will support approximately five collaborative projects that aim to rapidly identify new […]

The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and the University of Liverpool have confirmed an agreement to collaborate on new projects to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) for the benefit of public health. Since 2018, GARDP and the University of Liverpool have been working together to advance new treatment options for new-borns with sepsis. Their […]