Antibiotics are very effective in treating and preventing bacterial infections. However, their overuse has made infections harder to treat, leading to thousands of deaths a year through drug-resistant superbugs.

Now, a spin-out company based at UEA’s Norwich Medical School is ‘shutting down’ the genes that cause antibiotic resistance.

A new discovery

Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria acquire genes that protect them from the drug's attack. They survive treatment and reproduce, spreading the key genes more widely so that drugs become increasingly less effective. But researchers at Procarta Biosystems have now discovered a new type of antimicrobial that kills bacteria, including multidrug-resistant Gram-negative strains, by blocking their gene expression.

And the UEA team hopes that these new drugs which combat resistance, will one day help save lives by combating the world’s-worst superbugs. 

Procarta Biosystems founder, Professor Michael McArthur from UEA’s Norwich Medical School says, “This is a paradigm shift in research, and we have made a significant breakthrough in the race to solve antibiotic resistance".

Making a breakthrough

“We want to revolutionise the treatment of serious and life-threatening infections in order to radically improve patient well-being and aid in the global fight against antibiotic resistance" says Professor McArthur.  

"The new funding will be used to progress the company’s pipeline of pre-clinical precision drugs to treat some of the world’s-worst superbugs. These include potentially life-threatening complicated urinary tract and intra-abdominal infections caused by a particular group of Gram-negative pathogens".
 

A new threat

This group of pathogens – known collectively as ESKAPE (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter species) are responsible for a significant proportion of infections throughout the world. And they represent the greatest risk of antibiotic resistance of all clinical infections.

Professor McArthur said: “We are particularly concerned about a sub-group of Gram-negative bacteria called Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), which are considered to be the worst new superbugs.

“These bacteria can kill up to half of the patients who develop bloodstream infections and worryingly, resistance in this group is growing exponentially.”

Going back to the dark ages

Professor McArthur points out that infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria lead to prolonged hospital stays, an increase in deaths and pose a major threat to global public health.

He said, “There has not been a new class of antibiotic since the 1980s. If we don’t develop new ones soon, some infections could become completely untreatable and surgery and cancer therapy could become much more risky.” 

Funding source

The new funding comes from Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) - a global partnership dedicated to early research and development, to address the rising global threat of drug-resistant bacteria.

It complements a recent £1.3m investment from Novo Holding’s Repair Impact Fund.
 

Procarta Biosystems was founded in 2008 by Professor McArthur and Professor Mervyn Bib from the John Innes Centre, with seed funding from the UEA-based Iceni Seedcorn Fund and the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund.