CARB-X to fund development of drug to rejuvenate ineffective antibiotics

CARB-X announced today that it is awarding up to $2.2 million to the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) to continue developing new compounds designed to boost antibiotics that have become ineffective against drug-resistant bacterial infections.

The award will help fund IMB’s octapeptins research program, which is developing octapeptin peptides that can disrupt the protective outer cell membrane of drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria, allowing antibiotics that have lost efficacy to work again. IMB researchers are currently trying to identify which antibiotics octapeptins are best at helping and can be combined with.

“We will harness this latest funding injection to investigate which existing antibiotics can be rejuvenated by combining them with compounds from the octapeptin family,” Mark Blaskovich, PhD, director of the IMB Centre for Superbug Solutions, said in a CARB-X (the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) press release.

Octapeptins are being designed for use in low- and middle-income countries, where there are high levels of drug-resistant bacteria and many cheap, generic antibiotics have lost efficacy.

This is the second round of funding IMB has received from CARB-X for the Octapeptins project.
Feb 23 CARB-X press release

WHO details initial Global Leaders Group meeting

The World Health Organization (WHO) today released a report on the inaugural meeting of the One Health Global Leaders Group (GLG) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

The group, which is co-chaired by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and includes other heads of state, researchers, and key stakeholders, met Jan 26 and 27 to share ideas and discuss visions for their mission. It was the GLG’s first meeting since being launched in November 2020 to provide political leadership for global, regional, and national efforts to address AMR and its impact on humans, animals, and the environment.

According to the WHO report, the members agreed that all GLG actions should add value to the global AMR response and should be guided by evidence and accountability, that national AMR action plans should by the bedrock of the global AMR response, and that there is a need to bolster popular and political support for efforts to tackle AMR.      

The group also discussed ideas for a draft action plan to achieve their objectives. Members agreed that the action plan should be ambitious and evidence-based, with a focus on deliverable actions, should focus on the root causes of AMR, and should prioritize efforts to ensure sustained and dedicated funding.

They concluded that the five categories of recommendations created by the Interagency Coordination Group on AMR (accelerating progress in countries; research and development and innovations to secure the future; enhancing civil society and private sector engagement; investments and sustainable financing; and strengthening global governance with accountability) should provide the overall structure for their action plan.

The GLG plans to meet four times a year.
Feb 23 WHO report