Topical bacteriocin therapy with epidermicin NI01 for dermatological infections (TOBRADERM)

Amprologix是一家开发新型抗生素以应对全球抗菌素耐药性（AMR）威胁的公司。当细菌对抗生素产生耐药性并导致治疗失败和“耐药”感染导致的死亡增加时，就会发生抗生素耐药性。2019年，这些感染导致120多万人死亡，迫切需要新的抗生素。如果我们不开发新的抗生素，我们目前的医疗系统可能会失效，像癌症治疗和常规手术这样的事情可能会导致致命的感染。在这个TOBRADERM项目中，Amprologix将测试一种新的抗生素化合物表皮霉素NI01，用于治疗皮肤感染。在英国，皮肤感染每年影响数百万人，占所有抗生素处方的10%以上。皮肤感染可能是轻微的，但也可能导致严重和致命的后果，而且抗生素耐药性使皮肤感染变得越来越复杂。我们将开发表皮素用于外用（局部应用），直接应用于感染区域。这增加了杀灭作用，但也有助于保存目前口服或注射的抗生素，用于治疗严重感染，如血液中的感染。表皮素NI01是一类新的抗生素化合物，细菌素（小蛋白样分子）。虽然细菌素还没有被用于治疗病人，但表皮霉素的许多特性增加了它成为一种成功药物的机会。这些特性包括将阻止以前细菌素开发的任何风险降至最低的特性：它对全球主要病原体（“超级细菌”）具有非常强的活性，包括那些对当前抗生素具有耐药性的病原体和导致皮肤感染的主要原因；毒性极低，即使在最近的动物安全试验中也是如此；由于它杀死目标细菌的新方法，耐药性不太可能发生；我们已经开发出一种极低成本的生产系统。表皮素也不会杀死所有种类的细菌，这意味着它会针对主要病原体，使其他皮肤细菌不受伤害，保护“微生物群”。表皮霉素是一种极具前景的新型抗生素，TOBRADERM项目的成功将使Amprologix进入新药市场，帮助其成长为“局部治疗”领域的全球领导者。这将创造就业机会，为公司创造收入，并使开发一种治疗皮肤感染的新药成为可能，每年可能使英国超过100万人受益。

Amprologix is a company developing novel antibiotics to meet the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR happens when bacteria become resistant to antibiotics and results in treatment failure and increased death from 'drug resistant' infections. These infections killed over 1.2 million people in 2019 and new antibiotics are urgently needed. If we don't develop new antibiotics, our current medical system may fail and things like cancer therapy and routine surgery may result in a fatal infection.In this TOBRADERM project, Amprologix will test a new antibiotic compound, epidermicin NI01, for treating skin infections, which affect millions of people every year in the UK and are the cause of more than 10% of all antibiotic prescriptions. Skin infections can be minor but can also result in severe and fatal outcomes, and they are increasingly complicated by AMR. We will develop epidermicin to be used externally (topical application), being applied directly to infected areas. This increases the killing action but also helps preserve current antibiotics, taken orally or by injection, for use against serious infections, like those in the blood.Epidermicin NI01 is from a new class of antibiotic compound, the bacteriocins (small protein-like molecules). Whilst bacteriocins are not used to treat patients yet, epidermicin has many features that increase the chance of it being a successful drug. These features include properties that minimise any risks that have stopped development of previous bacteriocins: it has very potent activity against globally leading pathogens ('superbugs'), including those that are resistant to current antibiotics and the leading causes of skin infections; toxicity is extremely low, even in recent safety tests in animals; resistance is very unlikely to occur due to the novel way it kills target bacteria; and we have developed an extremely low-cost production system. Epidermicin will also not kill all kinds of bacteria meaning it will target the main pathogens, leaving other skin bacteria unharmed, protecting the 'microbiome'.Epidermicin is an extremely promising new antibiotic and success in the TOBRADERM project will allow Amprologix to access new drug markets, helping it grow into a global leader in 'topical therapeutics'. This will create jobs, generate income for the company and enable development of a new drug to treat skin infections, potentially benefitting over 1 million people a year in the UK.