Dear All, As part of their long-running project to maintain a useful view of the global antibacterial and antifungal pipelines, WHO yesterday announced a call for data on pre-clinical antifungal R&D projects. The scope is anything from Lead Optimization to pre-IND. Here are the links you need: The WHO webpage describing the call for data
Dear All (and with thanks to Patricia Bradford for co-authoring this newsletter), When you are seeking novelty, antibacterial discovery is hard … really, really, REALLY hard. And it gets even harder if you want activity vs. Gram-negative bacteria. As the latest proof of this, a paper from GARDP’s Blasco et al. describing use of an
This newsletter is the first of a series — here are the links to Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. Dear All, Today’s theme is a 3-part journey that could be subtitled “Many are called, but few are chosen,” or “It’s easy to kill bacteria — steam, fire, and bleach are consistently effective —
This newsletter is part of a series — here are the links to Part 1, Part 2, (this one is Part 3), Part 4, and Part 5. Dear All, As a coda to the two newsletters on Chemicals, Drugs, and Halicin (link and link), XKCD gets the final word: Image reproduced with permission from https://xkcd.com/1217/. And, you might
Note: For those of you with an interest in developing bacterial vaccines, the results of Pfizer’s failed STRIVE S. aureus vaccine have now appeared in print along with an excellent editorial commentary. Deep sigh on this one — please see the updated prior newsletter for the links and the full story. This newsletter is part
This newsletter is part of a series — here are the links to Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, (this one is Part 4), and Part 5. Dear All, We had fun in Feb 2020 discussing whether an antibacterial compound discovered using machine learning was a drug or just a chemical. Building on that conversation, the lab that wrote the
This newsletter is part of a series — here are the links to Part 1, (this one is Part 2), Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. Also relevant is the 5 April 2024 newsletter entitled “48,015 → 0: Antibacterial Discovery Is Hard. Really, Really Hard.“ Dear All (wonkish note alert!), The recent newsletter on chemicals, drugs, and halicin (link, see
Dear All, And now for a change from our usually scheduled content! As you might expect, major agencies in the US (FDA, BARDA, NIAID) and Europe (EMA, EC, national agencies) are actively supporting the global R&D response to COVID-19. In addition, global consortia are appearing and BioCentury has provided both a newsletter on this as well
Note: See also these related newsletters: 13 Jan 2019 (link) on DTR as part of the language of resistance and 7 June 2020 (link) on using DTR to estimate antibiotic value. There is also a 5-minute DTR explainer on YouTube that you might find useful. Dear All (wonk-ish note alert!), Three technical points for your consideration
Note: See also these related newsletters: 20 Feb 2020 (link) on DTR as part of the language of resistance and 7 June 2020 (link) on using DTR to estimate antibiotic value. There is also a 5-minute DTR explainer on YouTube that you might find useful. Dear All: When thinking about studies of resistant pathogens, issues
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