Universities' partnership in revolutionary therapeutics

Published: 1-Aug-2003
Regulatory


A new generation of technology will use peptides produced by amphibians to fight multiple-drug-resistant bacteria and treat cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The revolutionary therapeutics will be further developed thanks to a multimillion-dollar partnership between US company VDDI Pharmaceuticals, of Brentwood, Tennessee, the University of Ulster's Coleraine campus and Queens University in Belfast. The partnership will result in the creation of a corporate entity called AmphiBiotics, which will be a subsidiary of VDDI.

The new medical peptides have a completely different approach to killing bacteria, using a method that has been successfully employed by amphibians for at least 90 million years. 'Most conventional antibiotics either stop the bacteria synthesising protein, or stop them from synthesising their cell walls, but because these enzymes are proteins, they are open to genetic change and can become resistant to antibiotic agents,' explained Professor Chris Shaw of the University of Ulster, a lead developer of the treatment. 'Our novel medical peptide drugs kill bacteria by attacking the membrane of the bacteria in a very non-specific fashion, and because these membranes have evolved over hundreds of millions of years, it is highly unlikely that the micro-organisms can mutate quickly enough to develop resistance.'

'This partnership provides a significant strategic bridge between European technology and US commercialisation and has resulted in a true breakthrough for the pharmaceutical industry,' said Stephen Porter, president and ceo of VDDI. 'Almost 25% of all patients hospitalised in the developed world acquire bacterial infections from multiple-resistant bacteria, which lead to extended hospitalisations, mortality and a huge economic burden on healthcare systems.'

Another key component of the AmphiBiotics partnership is the recent portfolio of patents that VDDI has acquired from Interlink Biotechnologies. The REV-4 technology addresses long-standing problems with the delivery and stability of peptide treatments and will play a pivotal role in the success of the new antibiotics.

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