6th Sep 2018 13:55
LONDON (Alliance News) - Clinical stage drug company Summit Therapeutics PLC on Thursday said it has discovered multiple new mechanism antibiotics to treat "superbug" pathogens.
Summit's antibiotics are aimed at treating superbugs or so-called ESKAPE pathogens. ESKAPE is an acronymn standing for Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Enterobacter. These bacteria are notable for their resistance to conventional antibiotics.
Summit's new mechanism antibiotics were discovered using its Discuva platform, which uses bacteria libraries to find which genes are needed for certain bacteria to survive. The platform has been used to find drug targets focusing on those genes.
"The platform allows us to uncover possible new ways to combat the potentially deadly ESKAPE pathogens. We can then aim to exploit this knowledge through the discovery and development of targeted new mechanism antibiotics," said Summit Chief Executive Glyn Edwards.
At present, the company is working on new mechanism antibiotics for C. difficile and gonorrhoea infections and using Discuva to enhance its pipeline.
Summit Therapeutics shares were down 6.1% at 35.22 pence on Thursday.
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