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Structure-Based Drug Design Targeting Infectious Disease
Erin Duffy (Rib-X)
The central theme of our research efforts is the rational design of novel drug molecules that target the 50S ribosomal subunit and that show activity against prevalent and emerging drug-resistant bacteria. These features distinguish our approach: (1) through crystallography, we have industrialized the process of obtaining atomic-level details of how established antibiotics bind to the 50S ribosomal subunit, thereby interfering with its function; (2) we have characterized these binding motifs in both our workhorse archaebacterial system, Haloarcula marismortui, and a new eubacterial species that is closely-related to prototypical Gram-positive pathogens; (3) we have a trainable and predictive computational suite of tools that allows us to build new molecules that both interact efficiently with functionally-relevant sites in the 50S ribosomal subunit and have balanced molecular properties tuned to deliver a desired microbiological spectrum as well as a suitable ADME profile, and (4) we have embedded this technology in a drug discovery process that is complemented by efficient molecular synthesis and a screening strategy that is standard to the industry for assessing antibactieral drug candidates. Using this process, we have designed and developed several distinct classes of novel antibiotics targeting distinct bacterial spectra. Our most advanced program is progressing through human Phase-I clinical trials as an oral/IV agent to treat serious hospital- Gram-positive infections.
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