Project to develop new precision antibiotics launched
A project within the framework of the Complementary Plans of the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation, coordinated by the UAB, will develop antibiotics to eliminate infections without producing side effects in patients and leaving beneficial bacteria intact.
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens has led to a decrease in the efficacy of traditional antimicrobial therapy. In Spain, it is estimated that 4,000 people die each year from infections caused by resistant bacteria.
Dr Marc Torrent, lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the UAB, will coordinate the ABPATHFINDER research project, aimed at developing new precision antimicrobial therapies that act on key targets in specific pathogens, leaving the patient's microbiota intact. The aim is to find alternative treatments to broad-spectrum antibiotics that selectively eliminate infectious pathogens.
The research team will investigate the possibility of generating compounds that inhibit the interaction between two proteins key for bacterial survival, an entirely new mechanism of action that preserves the richness of the host microbiota and prevents recurrence of infections.
The project forms part of the Complementary Plans launched for the first time by the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation, within the call for Biotechnology Projects Applied to Health, and includes the involvement of the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute and the Reina Sofia Hospital in Cordoba.
The UAB, with Sustainable Development Goals
Good health and well-being