Agile Sciences-Breaking the Cycle of Antibiotic Resistance
Difficult-to-treat bacteria
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The alarming and growing cases of antibiotic resistant bacteria and the diminishing number of effective antibiotics to fight infections is a well-documented global health concern and also a potential national security issue. The World Health Organization ranks this as one of the top three threats to human health. Agile Sciences, a Raleigh, NC based biotechnology company, has developed a proprietary portfolio of small molecules of the 2-Aminoamidazole family (2-AI) that breaks the cycle of antibiotic resistance through a novel mode of action. “It is not just a question of developing new antibiotics, which takes many years of research and significant cost, but rather targeting the bacterial protection mechanisms that will eventually make these antibiotics ineffective due to the onset of resistance,” says Malcolm Thomas, CEO of Agile Sciences.
The 2-AI compounds developed by Agile Sciences do not kill bacteria but act by inhibiting the internal bacterial defense mechanism known as the Two-Component system (TCS). This inhibition prevents the bacteria from forming biofilms, producing toxins and developing resistance thus allowing antibiotics do their job more efficiently. As an example, Malcolm Thomas cites the work done by Agile Sciences in treating Cystic Fibrosis (CF): “in an animal model, we have seen marked improvement in the treatment of lung infections in CF, where an inhaled form of our compound disperses the biofilm that forms in the lungs resulting in the use of significantly less antibiotic to achieve clearance.”
The 2 AI compounds work not only with currently used antibiotics, but they are effective in re-activating older antibiotics. “These compounds re-potentiate older antibiotics that have been rendered useless by resistance as well as extend the useful life of current antibiotics,” says Thomas.
The 2-AI compounds developed by Agile Sciences do not kill bacteria but act by inhibiting the internal bacterial defense mechanism known as the Two-Component system (TCS). This inhibition prevents the bacteria from forming biofilms, producing toxins and developing resistance thus allowing antibiotics do their job more efficiently. As an example, Malcolm Thomas cites the work done by Agile Sciences in treating Cystic Fibrosis (CF): “in an animal model, we have seen marked improvement in the treatment of lung infections in CF, where an inhaled form of our compound disperses the biofilm that forms in the lungs resulting in the use of significantly less antibiotic to achieve clearance.”
The 2 AI compounds work not only with currently used antibiotics, but they are effective in re-activating older antibiotics. “These compounds re-potentiate older antibiotics that have been rendered useless by resistance as well as extend the useful life of current antibiotics,” says Thomas.
