Building a better haystack
How Macrolide's chemistry platform could accelerate antibiotics innovation
A year after raising $22 million in a series A round, Macrolide Pharmaceuticals Inc. has disclosed details of how its antibiotic discovery platform is creating a library of compounds with greater structural diversity than was previously possible - starting with eight simple building blocks. The company has created over 650 macrolides, including several with potent activity against Gram-negative pathogens as well as Gram-positive bacteria, the type of bug the antibiotic class has traditionally been most effective against.
CEO Lawrence Miller told BioCentury the company's primary focus is on compounds against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections, and it expects to choose a clinical candidate in 2017. "While we're not there yet, we certainly already have better activity than any other macrolide that's ever been published."...