Plectasin, an antimicrobial peptide (AMP), not only acts on antibiotic resistant bacteria has also been found to act on bacteria responsible for a disease like pneumonia.
Unlike other clinically tested AMPs, Plectasin can be tolerated in high doses, supposedly be administered intravenously and effectively treat systemic infections.
The development of plectasin research is currently in preclinical phase with a product typically reaching the market in 8-10 years dependent on a partnership agreement
The key to Plectasin's efficacy has been the antibiotic's method of attack, which is completely different to the way traditional antibiotics act. Recent studies have shown that antimicrobial peptides are expressed in human airways and are involved in the host defence.
Antimicrobial peptides are effector molecules of innate immunity with direct antimicrobial and mediator function. They have an important role in all scenarios providing an initial host defense mechanism.
Generally it is extremely difficult to provoke resistance to antimicrobial peptides because it requires the pathogenic bacterium to undergo a number of cellular alterations.
By comparison, many bacteria can become resistant to traditional antibiotics through just one or two alterations.
"Antimicrobial peptides are a new tool to fight infections. Initial tests show that even bacteria that are resistant to conventional antibiotics can be treated successfully with plectasin," said Per Falholt, Novozymes' executive vice president for Research & Development.
"As the dangers of antibiotics resistance continue to grow throughout the world, it is important to constantly look for new substances and methods to combat potentially deadly infections."
Plectasin was identified in 2002, where Novozymes applied for a central patent followed up by applications for patents in 22 countries.
"Among millions of variants we can effectively screen for and potentially identify other variants that may be even more effective." said Søren Kjærulff, director of Novozymes' antimicrobial peptide research department.
Other companies have sought to identify an AMP for clinical use. With plectasin, Novozymes found a previously unknown AMP that is not subject to the problems that often characterise AMPs.
The widespread resistance of bacterial pathogens to conventional antibiotics has prompted renewed interest in the use of alternative natural microbial inhibitors such as antimicrobial peptides.
Antimicrobial peptides, termed bacteriocins, are ribosomally synthesised polypeptides, which have bactericidal or bacteriostatic effect, usually against bacteria that are closely related to the producer strain.
Recently, antimicrobial peptides have been shown to display both antiviral and antifungal activities in vitro and have also been shown to be effective in experimental infections with multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
The results have been published in the October 13 issue of scientific journal Nature.