Efforts to develop a new drug to combat antibiotic-resistant ‘‘superbugs’’ in cystic fibrosis patients have been given a $588,687 shot in the arm.
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The grant, from the Australian Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust, will allow researchers from the University of Wollongong and elsewhere to advance their work on a drug that can break down the ‘‘fortress’’ that makes bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
The project, led by UOW medicinal chemist Michael Kelso, will now focus on finessing the drug into an all-in-one product that can both expose the bacteria and treat it.
‘‘Our drugs have a totally different approach because they trick the bacteria into dispersing,’’ said Prof Kelso, from UOW’s school of chemistry and the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute.
‘‘They’re initiating their own demise.’’
Prof Kelso said the new research was aimed at creating a package of data on the drug’s success in in vitro and animal experiments, laying the groundwork for drug companies to commercialise the treatment.
Cystic fibrosis sufferers often combat their illness through lifestyle and dietary choices, but the build-up of fluid in their lungs can be a more difficult, sometimes fatal, challenge. Thick mucus creates the ideal environment for bacteria to grow and establish infections.
‘‘Usually from quite a young age they are given antibiotics,’’ Prof Kelso said.
‘‘In time, these infections tend to grow more resistant to the drugs and...a superbug, pseudomonas aeruginosa, will take hold.
‘‘If something else doesn’t get people with cystic fibrosis early in their life, this is often what they die from.’’
Prof Kelso’s work treating antibiotic-resistant infections won him the 2013 Biota Award for medicinal chemistry.
He said the drug had ‘‘excellent’’ prospects of making it to market, ideally within five years.