UK-based drug discovery company Helperby Therapeutics has announced a major breakthrough in the fight against resistance with the discovery of patented ‘resistance breaker’ compounds. Announcing the discovery as it inks its first licensing deal with Indian pharmaceutical giant Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Professor Anthony Coates, Chief Scientific Officer, Helperby said, “The emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens has accelerated whilst the pipeline for new anti-microbial drugs has all but run dry – this exciting and timely partnership with Cadila offers us all hope.”
The announcement comes as the World Health Organisation’s Director General, Margaret Chan warns that a post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it noting “Things as common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill.”
Helperby, a spin-out of the UK’s University of London St George’s, has been working for the past 12 years on ways to tackle antibiotic resistance and has discovered a new series of potent, fast-acting drugs which rescue old antibiotics. Instead of targeting multiplying bacteria, the research team focused on non-multiplying, dormant bacteria. Developing antibiotics that specifically target these root-like bacteria has never been done before – in fact conventional methods of screening have consistently missed these promising candidate drugs.
The lead compound, HT61, has proven effective at phase II where, combined with an existing antibiotic it boosted the effect of the old antibiotic. HT61 depolarises the bacterial cell membrane boosting the anti-Staphylococcal effect of an old antibiotic for the decolonisation of the nose prior to hospitalisation. This demonstrated that it is feasible to boost the effect of old antibiotics in humans – in essence a rejuvenated range of existing antibiotics. HT61 also renders a number of old antibiotics active against highly resistant bacteria- hence the name Antibiotic Resistance Breaker.
Cadila will take the compound through phase III, approvals and into commercialisation. Helperby will supply Cadila with Antibiotic Resistance Breakers whilst Cadila will develop the combinations with old antibiotics. It is now actively considering a presence in the UK with a corresponding programme for UK microbiologists as part of the collaboration. The licensing agreement will allow Cadila Pharmaceuticals to bring the first product to market in around 18months.
Travelling with the UK’s Trade Delegation to India led by David Cameron, Prime Minister, UK, the deal value was undisclosed but could contribute to Helperby scaling up in the UK to a potential £500m operation, creating between 500-1000 by 2019.
Prime Minister Cameron said “The life sciences industry is the jewel in the crown for the UK economy, consistently growing and achieving new breakthroughs. Today’s deal between Helperby and Cadila Pharmaceuticals on antibiotic resistance research is another great example of UK-India collaboration helping both our countries to succeed in the global race. And it’s not just a step forward for medical research it also has the potential to create up to 1,000 highly skilled jobs in the UK by 2019.”
Dr Rajiv I Modi, Chairman and Managing Director, Cadila added, “This discovery will open new avenues against resistant organisms and is timely in view of global concerns about rapidly growing bacterial resistance against current antibiotics. Cadila Pharmaceutical’s collaboration with Helperby can help the mankind win the battle against the microbes and hopefully save millions of lives in coming years.”
EP News Bureau – Mumbai