ENABLE-2, the antibacterial drug discovery platform coordinated by Uppsala University, has announced its support of research led by Professor Christopher Schofield and Dr. Alistair Farley at the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research (IOI).
The IOI will work with ENABLE-2 to progress the development of a new class of broad spectrum metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) inhibitors. These inhibitors restore the activity of carbapenems in multidrug-resistant Gram-negative Enterobacterales, which are top of the World Health Organization’s Priority Pathogen List and a major cause of drug resistant infections.
ENABLE-2 is an antibacterial drug discovery platform with expertise and resources to test and optimise molecules in the early stages of drug development. The IOI currently holds a number of compounds with the potential to form the basis of future antibiotics.
Professor Chris Schofield, Director of Chemistry at the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research, has said: “Tackling a large global public health challenge such as AMR cannot be done in isolation. The development of new antibiotics requires extensive collaboration across scientific disciplines and across borders. We are therefore delighted to join the ENABLE-2 platform which brings together considerable expertise from across Europe in antibiotic medicinal chemistry. We look forward to progressing our programme with the ENABLE-2 team.”
Anders Karlén, Coordinator of ENABLE-2 and Professor at Uppsala University, has said: “We are very happy that ENABLE-2 continues to consolidate its international presence with this promising programme. We look forward to working with the team at the IOI to support their research through the hit to lead stage of development”
The collaboration with ENABLE-2 will allow compounds to be evaluated to identify which should be taken forward for further development. The platform also provides the opportunity to collaborate with a network of experts in microbiology, pharmacology and chemistry to further advance compounds along the drug discovery pipeline.