Potential antibiotic drug candidates from myxobacteria
Reference Number TO 02-00024
The Challenge
Today antibiotics are more than ever in the focus of scientists since established and widely used antibiotics evoke resistant microorganisms (e.g. infectious hospitalism strains or resistant tuberculosis strains). So there is a clear need for new antibiotics with novel active principles.
In order to find new drugs, natural products are often used as the basis for a successful drug development, whereby chemists derivate the biologic active chemical lead in order to fulfil the pharmacodynamic , pharmacokinetic and importantly safety requirements of a pharmacological drug. Prominent examples are (acetyl) salicylic acid against pain, isolated 1828 by Buchner out of willow bark, or the best selling anticancer drug in history, Taxol ® re-spectively its derivate Taxotere ®, initially found in yew trees. Most promising candidates in this respect, which seem to exceed all expectations, are epothilones, isolated from myxobacteria.
Since myxobacteria are demonstrably a rich and successful source for natural substances (> 450 known) and can be cultivated quite easy by fermentation, several of these molecules possess a potential drug candidate status facing manifold indications including infection.
The Technology
The invention discloses the two substances Ripostatin and Etnangien, isolated from myxobacteria and active against Gram-positive bacteria. Both substances are polymerase inhibitors. Ripostatin inhibits like Rifampicin the bacterial RNA-polymerase, but displays no cross resistance against Rifampicin resistant bacteria. Etnangien acts as a general new nucleic acid polymerase inhibitor (DNA, RNA, RT). Both substances inhibit the growth of bacteria but need to be derivated for pharmaceutical application.
Commercial Opportunity
Companies specialized on pre-clinical research with high screening and chemical lead optimisation expertise are first choice users to this invention. Our focus is a collaborative development of these molecules as antibiotics with an innovative commercial partner, willing to develop promising candidates from the scratch.
Advantages of the invention are
- Two chemical leads from myxobacteria with the potential as antibiotic drugs
- Substances are easy to produce by fermentation
- Support from the experienced inventors
Patent situation
Two German patent applications, one pending and one granted.
