Biomimetic Drugs to Target Biowarfare Pathogens

Advances in the field of biomimetics, the development of synthetic small molecules that mimic the activity of proteins, will be exploited to develop antibiotics to counter biowarfare pathogens such as anthrax, plague, and tularemia.

The [U.S.] Defense Threat Reduction Agency (Fort Belvoir VA, USA) has awarded a one-year, US$1.6 million contract to the biotechnology company Polymedix (Radnor, PA, USA) to develop new defensin-mimetic antibiotic compounds, in order to combat biowarfare pathogens.

PolyMedix employs a proprietary computational de novo drug design platform to design biomimetic compounds. The first products developed using this platform were novel small molecule antibiotic drugs (BAACs [bactericidal amphiphilic antibiotic compounds] that mimic the activity of host defense proteins. These are probably the first and only small molecule defensin mimetics being developed intended for use in systemic infections.

From a small library of a few hundred compounds, a high hit rate of biologically active compounds was produced and the first clinical drug candidate, PMX-30063, was selected. This drug shows to have broad and potent antimicrobial activity against a panel of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant strains.

By mimicking the activity of host defense proteins, PolyMedix's compounds have a highly unique mechanism of action: direct lysis of bacterial cell membranes, which results in the destruction of the genetic machinery often responsible for bacterial resistance. Thus, it is unlikely that bacterial resistance can easily develop to these compounds.

Related Links:
Defense Threat Reduction Agency
Polymedix