PasNas drug discovery platform by ABAC

The inLab FIB collaborates with the company ABAC Therapeutics in the development of its own drug discovery platform to identify new antibiotics aimed at combating multi-resistant bacteria.

The dramatic increase in multidrug-resistant gram-negative (MDR) infections is of particular concern and represents a serious clinical burden in terms of prevalence, mortality and healthcare costs.

Incremental improvements in existing broad-spectrum antibiotics are no longer able to keep up with the evolution of resistance.

Finding new antibacterials is not easy since the molecular mechanism of action of the latest broad-spectrum antibacterials is 40 years old, despite the enormous efforts made in pharmacy to find new agents.

ABAC Therapeutics researches to find therapeutic solutions for patients infected with highly antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens that leave affected patients with few (or no) treatment options.

National health service chiefs, infectious disease professional organizations and infectious disease experts warn we are facing a return to a pre-antibiotic era and infections with these “superbugs” are increasing in both severity and frequency, and new ones are now needed medicines to treat them.

Pathogen-specific antibiotics represent an innovative approach to developing anti-infective drugs and have the potential to lead to a whole new generation of antibiotics.

The search for products with specific activity for each pathogen, together with the PasNas discovery platform, offers us a new paradigm for treating infections, based on precision antibacterial agents.

ABAC Therapeutics researches in a new line that allows identifying compounds with specific activity with new mechanisms of action, respectful of the human bacterial flora and at the same time minimizing the selection of resistant strains.

Poster summarising the project: