GlaxoSmithKline compound tackles antibacterial resistance

GlaxoSmithKline has published the findings of new research which may reveal a new means of combating bacteria which are resistant to existing therapy options.

The pharmaceutical company has allied with the Wellcome Trust and the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency to create the investigational antibiotic GSK 299423, which counteracts the bacterial enzyme topoisomerase, preventing it from replicating.

Although some bacteria strains have developed resistance to quinolones, another treatment which targets this enzyme, GSK 299423 counteracts this by attaching to the topoisomerase in a different way.

It is hoped that the new drug will offer a means of combating drug-resistant strains of bacteria such as MRSA, E. coli and Pseudomonas.

Michael Gwynn of GlaxoSmithKline’s infectious diseases research group said: “We already knew that targeting this enzyme was clinically proven to stop bacteria in their tracks, we just needed to be a bit more inventive in how we attacked it.”

Earlier this week, it was announced that GlaxoSmithKline will be allying with FivePrime Therapeutics to create a number of new drugs for skeletal muscle disorders such as sarcopenia.