From animals to man

Pleuromutilins are a class of antibiotics that have been used in veterinary medicine for about 20 years, but they haven't been pursued as human drugs until recently because they are difficult to make chemically. That is changing, as modern pleuromutilins have properties such as better bioavailability that make them highly attractive for human use. Last week, Sandoz GmbH spun out its pleuromutilins and other preclinical antibiotics into Nabriva Therapeutics Forschungs GmbH. At the same time, the newco announced a series A financing of E42 million ($51 million).

Pleuromutilins act by inhibiting the initiation of protein synthesis at the level of the prokaryotic 50S ribosome. They interact with specific sites within the so-called peptidyl transferase center (PTC) of the 50S ribosomal subunit. Binding of the pleuromutilin leads to inhibition of peptide bond formation and consequently stops protein synthesis. ...