Prolysis and Proteom in drug discovery agreement
Prolysis, a UK r&d company focused on the discovery and development of novel antibacterial agents, and Proteom, an in silico molecular design company, have signed a drug discovery agreement focused on the optimisation of Prolysis' lead antibiotic programmes.
Prolysis, a UK r&d company focused on the discovery and development of novel antibacterial agents, and Proteom, an in silico molecular design company, have signed a drug discovery agreement focused on the optimisation of Prolysis' lead antibiotic programmes.
Proteom, based in Cambridge, UK, is a biotechnology company specialising in the in silico design of small molecule ligands.
As part of the agreement, ProtoScreen and ProtoBuild, Proteom's proprietary in silico screening and de novo design technology, will be used to augment the progress made by Prolysis in the design of new classes of antibiotics targeting bacterial cell division.
Based in Oxfordshire, Prolysis is an industry leader in the discovery and development of novel inhibitors of bacterial cell division. This has been achieved through the application of its proprietary whole-cell assay technology complemented by unique structural insights gained through protein crystallography and medicinal chemistry from its technology partners, Professor David Rice of the University of Sheffield and Evotec OAI.
The company is exploiting its insights into bacterial cell biology to create the new broad-spectrum antibiotics to treat resistant hospital and community-acquired infections. Prolysis will commercialise its new antibiotics by out-licensing after demonstrating proof-of-concept in human Phase IIa studies.
'There is an urgent clinical need for new classes of antibiotics to tackle the rising incidence of drug-resistant bacterial infection,' said Dr Steve Ruston, Prolysis ceo. 'Prolysis is rising to this challenge through its development of a portfolio of novel antibacterial agents.'