Bacteriology - Research

The discovery of antibiotics has revolutionized modern medicine since the 1930’s enabling human society to combat (serious) bacterial infections. Unfortunately, resistance has eventually emerged in targeted bacteria to these and almost all other antibiotics resulting in the loss of their antibacterial effects. Furthermore, the global R&D effort in this highly specialized R&D field declined dramatically over the decades due to a decrease in return on investment (ROI). A post-antibiotic era is becoming a realistic scenario with a predicted death toll >10 million by 2050¹ and which could have a tremendous economic and social impact if the spread of multi-drug resistance (MDR) bacteria could not be diminished by efficacious antibacterial treatments. Simple surgery would become a risk due to harmful bacteria if no or limited treatment options are available.

Thus, reinforcing overall efforts by researching both classical antibacterials as well as alternative novel approaches is essential to maximize the potential of AiCuris’ strategy and to combat MDR pathogens by contributing to the global Antimicrobial alliance against MDR bacteria. Public private partnerships and close collaborations with leading organizations, institutions and scientists worldwide are the key to our success.

AiCuris’ highly innovative antibacterial pipeline comprises several discovery programs at different stages, targeting MDR pathogens with novel and resistance-breaking classes of molecules.

¹ O´Neill – Review on Antimicrobial Resistance Dec 2014