Date: 2015-09-15
Type of information: Collaboration agreement
Compound:
Company: Domainex (UK) Auspherix (Australia)
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
Type agreement: collaboration
Action mechanism:
Disease: antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections
Details: * On October 15, 2014, Domainex and Auspherix announced a collaboration that will progress Auspherix’s novel anti-infective drug discovery programme towards the nomination of a clinical candidate. Auspherix intends to develop much needed new drugs to fight the increasing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, which have been widely reported as one of the most significant threats to patients' safety across the world. Auspherix, an early-stage anti-infectives company, has in-licensed intellectual property from the three institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) with the intention of developing antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action to treat resistant bacterial disease. The company was established in 2013 as a spin out from the ithree institute by its Director Professor Ian Charles and Senior Research Fellow Dr Dagmar Alber with venture funding from Australia’s Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF). Professor Charles and Dr Alber have previously enjoyed success working together at the UK anti-infectives company Arrow Therapeutics, which was also co-founded by Professor Charles. Domainex, a UK-based company that provides integrated drug discovery services to progress research projects from hit identification to proof of concept, is deploying its highly-experienced team of medicinal chemists to build on initial work undertaken by Auspherix. The small-molecule drug leads identified by Auspherix are being further refined with the help of the Domainex team to deliver effective novel antibiotic drug candidates suitable for progression to the clinic.
Financial terms:
Latest news: * On September 15, 2015, Domainex and Auspherix announced an expansion of their collaboration to develop new drugs to tackle the growing threat of resistance to antibiotics. The programme has been extended through to 2017. Since initiating the project in 2014, significant progress has been made towards the invention of new compounds with activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The collaboration extension aims both to refine the current chemical series towards selection of novel pre-clinical candidates and to explore potential additional compound series. A team of at least five chemists will be deployed at Domainex providing analytical and medicinal chemistry expertise, working in partnership with Auspherix’s growing R&D team. Alongside the expansion of the medicinal chemistry programme with Domainex, Auspherix is building its UK-based microbiology and management teams at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst. It is intensifying discovery research on its initial bacterial disease focus, and intends to explore further the potential in its antibiotic platform.
