New European project to combat antibiotic resistance

As the problem of antimicrobial resistance  grows worldwide, over 30 European academic partners and five pharmaceutical companies have launched a new project under the New Drugs 4 Bad Bugs (ND4BB) program.

COMBACTE-MAGNET (Combatting Bacterial Resistance in Europe - Molecules Against Gram-Negative Infections) will produce highly innovative studies and activities related to the prevention and treatment of life-threatening infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB). University Medical Center Utrecht, based in the Netherlands, is the project’s managing entity.

The project will deliver multinational phase 1, 2 and 3 studies in adult and paediatric intensive-care patients with MEDI3902, a monoclonal antibody developed by biotech company MedImmune and currently being investigated for the prevention of nosocomial pneumonia caused by a highly drug-resistant bacterium, P. aeruginosa. In September 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration granted Fast Track designation to MEDI3902.

The consortium will additionally perform phase 1 and 2 studies, including extensive pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic studies, with AIC499, a new beta-lactam antibiotic from pharma company AiCuris with enhanced beta-lactamase stability and efficacy against a broad range of MDR-GNB, including P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter species. Alone, or in combination with a beta-lactamase inhibitor, AIC499 is active against MDR isolates producing a wide range of beta‐lactamases, and therefore offers the prospect of a new treatment option for patients with life-threatening infections due to MDR-GNBs.

COMBACTE-MAGNET will also closely collaborate with and further strengthen the clinical and laboratory networks of COMBACTE, the first project within the ND4BB program that started in January 2013. Furthermore, a pan-European collaboration will be created within COMBACTE-MAGNET to map and utilise available surveillance systems in Europe in order to optimally describe the epidemiology of antibiotic resistance and healthcare associated infections.