Liverpool University. UK: The University of Liverpool and the Royal Liverpool University
Hospital are part of a large European and pharmaceutical partnership to
develop new antibiotic treatments. The Combatting Bacterial Resistance in Europe – Molecules Against
Gram-Negative Infections (COMBACTE-MAGNET), project is part of the
Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), bringing together 33 European
academic partners and five pharmaceuticals in research activities to
prevent and treat infections that have become resistant to antibiotics.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing problem worldwide, and
with few new drugs making it to the market, there is an urgent need for
new medicines to manage infections caused by resistant pathogens. Most
problematic is the rapid emergence and dissemination of multidrug
resistant (MDR) bacteria.
Efforts to develop novel antibiotics are hampered by a number of
scientific and regulatory hurdles that cannot be easily tackled by any
individual organisation working alone.
Clinical trials
The Liverpool team will conduct the first-in-human clinical trials
and identify the optimal dosage for patients with life threatening
infection for which there are currently severely limited treatment
options.
Professor William Hope, from the University’s Institute of Translational Medicine,
said: “We have developed the necessary infrastructure and skills that
are required for the accelerated development of new antibiotics with
activity against drug resistant bacteria.
“The IMI award builds on an existing research theme within the
Department of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology for the development of
new drugs for bad bugs.”
Life-threatening
Richard Fitzgerald, consultant physician at the Royal Liverpool
University Hospital, said: “We are uniquely placed to work together to
deliver this important project. The combination of the Clinical Research
Unit at the Royal Liverpool and the Antimicrobial Pharmacodynamics
& Therapeutics Laboratory at the University means that Liverpool can
directly contribute to the development of new drugs that are urgently
required for the NHS.”
The COMBACTE-MAGNET project will develop new treatment options for
patients with life-threatening infections due to bacterial infections
that are resistant to current antibiotics.