This week, it was announced that the company has raised £4.3M in seed funding to develop effective targeted therapeutics against antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. They will use the funding to establish laboratories in Oxford and Glasgow and expand its team to accelerate its bacteriocin development programme.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health crisis throughout the world. It is estimated that around 1.27 million people per year die as a result of AMR due to the therapeutic failure of available antibiotics. By 2050, AMR is predicted to surpass 10 million deaths globally per year at a cost of $100 trillion dollars; hence, there is an urgent need to develop new effective antimicrobial therapeutics.
Glox Therapeutics is developing precision antibiotics utilising engineered protein bacteriocins. These novel antimicrobials exhibit remarkable potency and specificity, enabling them to effectively and selectively target Gram-negative pathogens that have already developed AMR, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Bacteriocins, which are naturally produced by bacteria, possess antimicrobial properties against strains of the same or related species. Leveraging the power of bacteriocins, Glox Therapeutics aims to advance the field of antimicrobial therapy by overcoming resistance to traditional antibiotics. It will focus on selectively eradicating target pathogens while preserving the patient’s microbiomes, ensuring a more balanced and effective treatment strategy with reduced side-effects.
Professor Colin Kleanthous says of the news;
“I’m thrilled to be associated with this exciting new venture. Glox Therapeutics is the culmination of many years hard work from my laboratory and that of my collaborator Professor Dan Walker in Glasgow. Aided by our experienced CEO James Clark and investors Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Scottish Enterprise, we can begin to develop a completely new class of antimicrobial that kills pathogenic bacteria while leaving ‘good’ bacteria unharmed.”
