MGB Biopharma, the Strathclyde University spinout developing a new class of antibiotic to fight hospital superbugs, is on track for its first clinical trials.
The company has said that the £4m funding boost received in 2014 has enabled it to progress its MGB-BP3 lead product through manufacturing agreements with Almac Group and Encap Drug Discovery. The oral formulation, effective against Clostridium Difficile, should begin trials in the second quarter.
In parallel, MGB Biopharma expects to complete in 2015 the preclinical development of an injectable formulation which will target other superbugs including MRSA.
The company's compound, being developed under licence from Strathclyde University, is only the twelfth new class of antibiotic to be developed since penicillin was discovered n 1928 and the first since the 1980s. It says: "New antibiotics to treat hospital-acquired infections are urgently needed as the current last-line treatments are becoming less and less effective due to an increasing number of resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria."
MGB is optimistic that research at Strathclyde will show the drug can also be developed to fight other superbugs and fungal infections.
Last September the company secured £2.7m of funding from a consortium led by Scotland's biggest private investor group Archangel along with existing investors Barwell,TRI Cap and the Scottish Investment Bank That followed the landing last June of a £1.3m award from Innovate UK, and £2m of funding in the business's early stages. Dr Miroslav Ravic, chief executive, said: "We believe 2015 will be a pivotal year for the Company and the progress of MGB-BP-3 as we deliver important milestones that will significantly increase the value of our business."
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