Eradicating superbugs without generating resistance

Researchers in the School of Dentistry are part of an international team awarded up to £1.8m to develop drugs that can prevent, control, and eradicate superbugs without generating resistance.

The Cardiff researchers will be working in collaboration with Destiny Pharma and Tianjin Medical University in China.

The project, which will run for two years, will further develop novel compounds created by Destiny Pharma and combine them with existing antibiotics to synergise and/or restore their efficacy against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Data generated will help develop medicines that address the growth of bacterial resistance, either as a single drug, or restore the efficacy of ineffective antibiotics by combination therapy.

Professor David Williams, from the School of Dentistry, who will lead the Cardiff team, said: “The widespread emergence of antimicrobial resistance in recent years has highlighted the need for alternative and effective antimicrobial agents. We, therefore, feel that the XF drug platform from Destiny Pharma provides timely and significant tools in our armoury against antimicrobial resistance.”

The funding for the project comes from the UK-China AMR fund set up by Innovate and the Department of Health, in collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.

Neil Clark, Chief Executive Officer of Destiny Pharma, said: “The funds awarded under the new UK-China collaboration, will help explore further our XF drug platform with expert teams at Cardiff University and Tianjin University.

“The research will investigate the utility of our XF drug platform especially in the treatment of dermal and ocular infections. This collaboration may help us identify additional clinical candidates that are safe, effective and with a significantly reduced level of antimicrobial resistance.”