The world is facing a dire crisis as we rapidly run out of antibiotics.1 Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a silent pandemic, posing a monumental global threat and claiming at least 1.3 million lives each year.2 New drugs to treat resistant Gram-negative infections are urgently needed!
In light of this urgency, we are embarking on a mission to combat this crisis. The World Health Organization has noted a stark deficiency in the innovation of new antibiotics, undermining our battle against drug-resistant infections.3 We are forging a path toward developing innovative novel antibiotics to address this shortfall.
One of our strategies involves the development of antibiotic-antibiotic hybrids, a pioneering approach that amalgamates various major antibiotic classes. These hybrids combine distinct mechanisms of action, resulting in an arsenal of dual-acting drugs. Over the past few years, we have meticulously crafted various combinations with immense potential.
This presentation will explore discoveries related to a particular group of hybrids. These hybrids are derived from the octapeptin core, an antibiotic from the polymyxin class. By synthetically linking octapeptin with other antibiotic types, we have observed compelling results that emphasise the effectiveness of our approach.
Our octapeptin hybrids exhibit up to 32 times greater potency compared to their parent antibiotics against multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, including notoriously problematic species like Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter baumannii.
If the prospect of unravelling new avenues to combat AMR captivates your interest, we invite you to join us in exploring the outcomes of this endeavour.