- The Sayers laboratory at the University of Sheffield has been awarded £998,324 by PACE (Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy)
- The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is a leading cause of pneumonia caught in hospitals
- More than 300,000 of the deaths associated with P. aeruginosa are linked to antimicrobial resistance
- There is an urgent need for new antibiotics to kill emerging drug-resistant strains
- The project team has identified molecules that kill other bacteria in ongoing work and will use the support and funding from PACE to apply their strategy to Pseudomonas.
The Sayers laboratory at the University of Sheffield has been awarded £998,324 by PACE (Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy), one of the UK’s largest public-private initiatives targeting early-stage antimicrobial medicines and diagnostic discovery.
Led by Professor Jon Sayers, from the University of Sheffield’s School of Medicine and Population Health, the team aims to develop new antibiotics to treat patients with life-threatening P. aeruginosa pneumonia, who would otherwise have no remaining treatment options.
The bacterium P. aeruginosa is a leading cause of pneumonia caught in hospitals and can also cause disease in patients with burns, as well as urinary tract infections. Sadly, it has developed resistance to most available antibiotics.
Antibiotics work by rapidly killing the bacterium which then cures the infection. As drug-resistant strains evolve there is an urgent need for new antibiotics that kill these emerging strains.
The project team has identified molecules that kill other bacteria in ongoing work and will use the support and funding from PACE to apply their strategy to Pseudomonas. They will take a previously unexplored approach, looking at stopping bacteria from reproducing their DNA.
By targeting an essential component of the bacterial reproductive cycle, the team hopes to produce a drug that is less likely to develop resistance, therefore reducing the need for multiple doses or changes of prescription.
As part of this two-year project, the team aims to demonstrate that their new drugs can treat infected bacteria in mice models, giving them confidence to take this programme forward to clinical trials.
Professor Jon Sayers from the University of Sheffield’s School of Medicine and Population Health said, “We are excited to be working with PACE to find new ways to treat Pseudomonas infections. The drugs we are developing hijack the bacteria’s DNA copying machinery. This leads to branched DNA being created inside the cell that cannot be passed to the next generation, causing the bacteria to die rapidly.”
The rapid killing of the bacteria offers hope for improving cure rates and reducing treatment periods compared with those currently available, cutting treatment times to less than five days so that patients can be discharged from hospitals more rapidly.
Dr Clive Mason, Programme Director, PACE, said: "After a highly competitive call seeking novel early-stage antimicrobial therapeutics, we are delighted The Sayers Laboratory at the University of Sheffield will join our first cohort of funded projects. In addition to funding, they will have access to advisors, mentors and enabling tools to help them to move their project closer to the clinic, which would have a huge impact on patients’ lives.”