Partnership in pursuit of new antibiotics class

For forty years, no new antibiotic class targeting Enterobacteriaceae infections has come on the market. If all goes to plan, this overlong dry spell is coming to an end soon: With the help of Evotec, Nosopharm plans to advance its lead candidate into clinical development. The two companies announced a new partnership with the goal to launch a Phase I trial for compound NOSO-502 for the treatment of complicated Urinary Tract Infections and complicated Intra-Abdominal Infections.

NOSO-502 is the first clinical candidate in the novel antibiotic class called Odilhorhabdins (ODLs). It inhibits the bacterial ribosome with a new mechanism of action and is intended for the treatment of nosocomial infections caused by Enterobacteriaceae, including polymyxin– and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Enterobacteriaceae – which includes, among others, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae – were listed as a priority pathogen by the WHO in 2017 for the R&D of new antibiotics. NOSO-502 has proven to be effective in vivo in Enterobacteriaceae infection models. Nosopharm expects to launch first-in-human studies with the compound in 2021.

In addition, the partners will focus on the development of a second-generation Odilohabdin drug candidate for the treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia and ventilation-associated pneumonia.

"It’s exciting to see the development of an entirely new antibiotic class, which is crucial in these times of rising antibiotic resistance,” said Evotec CSO Cord Dohrmann.