At the 51st Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) held in Chicago on Monday, MGB Biopharma a biopharmaceutical company based in Glasgow announced results for a powerful new antibiotic drug to treat resistant infections including the deadly MRSA and Clostridium Difficile (C Diff.) bacillus.

In 2010, C Diff. accounted for over 3,000 deaths in the UK. 65 of these deaths occurred in Scotland and according to the General Register Office for Scotland, C Diff. was a contributory factor in a further 205 deaths. The Office for National Statistics revealed C. Diff. accounted for 2,074 deaths in England and Wales, while provisional figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency revealed 91 cases respectively.

Biopharma, which has licensed technology from the University of Strathclyde is developing MGB BP-3, a new compound confirmed to have higher efficacy in killing and preventing C Diff. compared with vancomycin, which is currently one of the most commonly used treatments against this bacterium.

MGB BP-3 has the potential to act as an agent against bacteria including C Diff. and MRSA compound and operates in minor grooves within DNA structures.

Biopharma has selected MGB BP-3 for formal pre-clinical development with clinical trials being scheduled for 2012.

Dr Miroslav Ravic, Chief Executive Officer of MGB Biopharma explained:

“It seems we are hearing too much about Clostridium difficile infections these days in the press, especially those acquired in hospital by elderly patients in whom the infection can be fatal. This is clearly an area of high unmet need as a result of the rise of resistant bacteria which are threatening to outpace the availability of new drugs able to successfully treat these life- threatening infections. We are very excited that MGB BP-3 shows such a promising response against this troublesome and difficult to treat infection. We are committed to developing a specific oral drug for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infections in addition to the progress we are making with an IV drug against MRSA.”

“C Diff. infections can kill and patients can face prolonged courses of treatment to deal with them. We have come up with strong compounds, which are capable not only of clearing the infections but also of stopping them. We believe this could be a significant step forward in tackling these dangerous infections,” said Professor Colin Suckling, of the University of Strathclyde’s Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Suckling is Principal Investigator in the DNA minor groove binder technology.

Senior member of the research team, Professor Curtis Gemmell, Consultant Microbiologist, Research Professor at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences and Emeritus Professor at the University of Glasgow commented: “The fact that our drug candidate shows greater efficacy than vancomycin is extremely promising for its future. The fact we are making this presentation at ICAAC underscores the importance that our scientific peers attach to our findings.”

Both, Professor Suckling and Professor Gemmell are members of MGB Biopharma’s Joint Development Committee.

Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences is a pioneering center for the development of new medicines for conditions, such as infectious diseases, cancer, heart disease and arthritis. The institute started an £8 million fundraising campaign for a new £36 million building to expand and improve its innovative medical research facilities, education and discovery programs to ensure continuous solutions to major health care problems.

Licensing was negotiated by the University’s Research & Knowledge Exchange Services with Biopharma’s funding being provided by a business angel syndicate led by Archangel Informal Investments Ltd in association with TriCapital Ltd, Barwell plc and the Scottish Co-investment Fund.

Written by Petra Rattue