Baseimmune Ltd. has closed $11.3 million (£9 million) in series A funding. The company uses proprietary, deep learning artificial intelligence (AI) to predict future pathogen mutations to generate novel vaccines.
With a regulatory filing expected later this year for gepotidacin based on positive data in uncomplicated urinary tract infections, GSK plc reported that the potentially first-in-class oral antibiotic hit its endpoints in a phase III trial in uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea, the sexually transmitted disease facing a rise in incidence rate and increased antibiotic resistance.
SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. of Seongnam-si, South Korea, gained the World Health Organization’s (WHO) prequalification certification for typhoid conjugate vaccine, Skytyphoid (NBP-618), on Feb. 23. Skytyphoid conjugates a polysaccharide of typhoid bacteria, which serves as an antigen, to a diphtheria toxin protein called diphtheria toxoid that acts as a carrier.
Researchers from Contrafect Corp. have reported on the bactericidal activity of CF-370, a novel engineered lysin with broad-spectrum activity against gram-negative organisms, which are usually more resistant to antibacterial agents than gram-positive bacteria.
The good news is that the U.S. FDA’s complete response letter (CRL) for Venatorx Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s intravenous antibiotic combination, cefepime-taniborbactam, in complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs) requested no additional clinical testing. The bad news is the inevitable delay for a drug Venatorx and partner Melinta Therapeutics Inc. are aiming to position as a much-needed option for the fight against drug-resistant gram-negative infections.
Researchers from the Peking University Health Science Center have developed a murine model of RSV infection based on the knockout of the Rag2 gene using CRISPR/Cas9 (Rag2-/- mice).
Mice are frequently used as models to test novel candidate compounds during drug discovery and development. However, many compounds show efficacy against the drug target in vitro but present poor pharmacokinetic properties in mice due to the high metabolism rates.
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Harvard University have published details on the chemical synthesis and microbiological evaluation of a ribosome-binding antibiotic – cresomycin (CRM) – that was able to overcome antimicrobial resistance of major pathogenic bacteria including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and others.
Immuno Technologies Inc. and affiliated organizations have published preclinical data on a novel parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5)-vectored intranasal vaccine for Lyme disease.
Researchers from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine have developed a new murine model of Eastern equine encephalitis virus infection that resembles human disease with its associated neurologic sequelae.