A novel peptide therapy developed by Swedish biopharmaceutical company Pergamum will be developed at Cadila Pharmaceuticals’ facilities in Ahmedabad, India in the hope of producing a marketable alternative to traditional antibacterials.
The therapy has a unique targeting facility which - Jonas Ekblom, President and CEO of Pergamum, told In-Pharmatechnologist.com – offers “rapid action” and anti-inflammatory benefits over classical antibiotics.
Most importantly, Ekblom said, “the peptides do not seem to evoke conventional antibiotics resistance” which is critical in assuring continued immunity against infection as micro-organisms evolve to resist the drugs which are presently available.
Such development will be welcomed by bodies like the European Medicines Agency (EMA) who highlighted “the limited availability of novel antibiotics” as one of the most critical issues in medicine development in its Roadmap to 2015 report.
Furthermore, a joint report with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) from 2009 followed trends in antibiotic resistance and concluded that the gap between infections from multidrug-resistance bacteria and new antibiotic development is a deeply growing concern.
Short Peptide Therapy
The short peptides mimic the action of natural peptides found in the body and kill cells rapidly rather than inhibit the growth, as is the case in current antibiotics. The peptides are attracted to the membranes of microbes which, unlike the body’s own cells, have a negative charge and thus attack the infection whilst sparing the host.
Cadila will take responsibility for all costs in developing the therapy up to Phase II clinical tests and, following successful results, the two companies will share global rights.
No financial details have been revealed though if the project moves to more advanced stages of development there will likely be a number of job opportunities.