Swiss start-up and University of Berne develop alternative to antibiotics

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03.11.2014

Scientists from the University of Bern have developed a novel substance for the treatment of severe bacterial infections without antibiotics, which would prevent the development of antibiotic resistance. The treatment is being developed as a new medicine named "CAL02" by LASCCO SA.

Ever since the development of penicillin almost 90 years ago, antibiotics have remained the gold standard in the treatment of bacterial infections. However, the WHO has repeatedly warned of a growing emergence of bacteria that develop antibiotic resistance. Once antibiotics do no longer protect from bacterial infection, a mere pneumonia might be fatal. Alternative therapeutic concepts which lead to the elimination of bacteria, but do not promote resistance are still lacking.

A team of international scientists has tested a novel substance, which has been developed by Eduard Babiychuk and Annette Draeger from the Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern in Switzerland. This compound constitutes a novel approach for the treatment of bacterial infections: the scientists engineered artificial nanoparticles made of lipids, "liposomes" that closely resemble the membrane of host cells. These liposomes act as decoys for bacterial toxins and so are able to sequester and neutralize them. Without toxins, the bacteria are rendered defenseless and can be eliminated by the cells of the host's own immune system. The study will be published in Nature Biotechnology on 2 November.

Artificial bait for bacterial toxins
In clinical medicine, liposomes are used to deliver specific medication into the body of patients. Here, the Bernese scientists have created liposomes which attract bacterial toxins and so protect host cells from a dangerous toxin attack. "We have made an irresistible bait for bacterial toxins. The toxins are fatally attracted to the liposomes, and once they are attached, they can be eliminated easily without danger for the host cells", says Eduard Babiychuk who directed the study. "Since the bacteria are not targeted directly, the liposomes do not promote the development of bacterial resistance", adds Annette Draeger. Mice which were treated with the liposomes after experimental, fatal septicemia survived without additional antibiotic therapy.

Treatment developed by the Swiss start-up LASCCO
The Technology transfer organisation of the Universities of Bern, Basel and Zurich "Unitectra" has filed a patent for this compound. The liposomal treatment is being developed as a new medicine named "CAL02" by LASCCO SA, a Geneva-based biomedical company specialized in innovative technologies for diagnostics and therapeutics. The first clinical study, conducted on patients suffering from severe streptococcal pneumonia is scheduled for 2015.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria kill some 50,000 in the U.S. and Europe each year. On their own, antibiotics are powerless to solve the problem of resistance on the long term, as the risk of the emergence of resistance is inherent to their use. New classes of anti-infectives that do not impose a selective pressure on bacterial growth are therefore crucially needed. Among the most promising strategies addressing this issue are those tailored to disarm bacteria by targeting their virulence factors rather than to kill them. The Nature Biotechnology publication highlights that, as opposed to monoclonal antibodies blocking specific bacterial toxins, CAL02 is a broad-spectrum agent active against a variety of clinically relevant toxins, including those released by antibiotic-resistant strains.

“These in vivo studies strongly support our decision to conduct a first-in-human study next year in severely-ill patients with pneumococcal pneumonia” commented Samareh Azeredo da Silveira Lajaunias, Managing Director at LASCCO. “This new drug meets crucial medical needs, since virulence factors such as toxins are responsible for serious infection-related complications. These complications concern 23% of individuals affected by community-acquired pneumonia, extend hospitalisation in intensive care units, and tremendously increase the cost of care.”

ABOUT LASCCO
LASCCO SA was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The company focuses on the development of discovery-stage biomedical technologies. LASCCO validates the potential of new pharmaceuticals or diagnostics, and brings them to the attention of the industry for commercialization. Areas of focus are infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, and neurodegenerative disorders. The company partnered with major diagnostics companies in 2012 for its biomarker for the diagnosis of sepsis.

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