Scottish biotech Aquapharm discovers novel antibiotic compound

Aquapharm Biodiscovery believes the marine-derived compound AQP-182 could help to tackle multi-drug resistant bacteria.

Aquapharm Biodiscovery, a biotechnology company specialising in the discovery and development of marine-derived bioactives, has identified a novel antibiotic compound.

The compound, AQP-182, was idenfitied from the Scottish company's collection of more than 10,000 marine micro-organisms.

Data indicate that it may be effective against a wide range of multi-drug resistant bacteria, including multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MDRSA) and multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (MDRSP), along with Clostridium difficile and Enterococcus faecalis.

The compound is now in pre-clinical development and could play an important role in the development of next-generation antibiotics to tackle these and other problematic bacteria.

"We are very pleased with the output of our drug discovery platform based on marine microorganisms," said Dr Tim Morley, chief scientific officer at Aquapharm.