Domainex and Auspherix entered a collaboration that aims to progress Auspherix’ anti-infective drug discovery program toward the nomination of a clinical candidate. 

Auspherix, an early-stage anti-infectives company, has in-licensed intellectual property from the ithree institute at the University of Technology Sydney to develop antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action to treat resistant bacterial disease. An experienced team of medicinal chemists from Domainex, a provider of integrated drug discovery services, will build on initial work undertaken by Auspherix. The small-molecule drug leads identified by Auspherix are being further refined with the help of the Domainex team to deliver effective antibiotic drug candidates suitable for progression to the clinic.

Established in 2013, Auspherix is a spin out from the ithree institute by its director professor Ian Charles and senior research fellow Dagmar Alber, Ph.D., with venture funding from Australia’s Medical Research Commercialization Fund. Professor Charles and Dr. Alber have previously worked together at the U.K. anti-infectives company Arrow Therapeutics, which was also co-founded by Prof. Charles.

“We are seeing increasing numbers of cases of drug-resistant bacteria around the world, driven by cumulative overuse of antibiotics. With the rise of resistant superbugs, we desperately need to find new ways to combat infectious diseases,” Prof. Charles said, adding “we selected Domainex as our medicinal chemistry partner for this project, as its scientists are highly-experienced in the development of novel anti-infectives.”

Previous articleThree Startups Picked to Receive First Round of Illumina Accelerator Funding
Next articleNewly Sequenced Fly Genome Is All the Buzz