LeadtoTreat · Targeted Nano-formulations for Treatment of MRSA: A multicomponent platform for nano-formulated treatment of resistant microbial infections

Many bacteria that cause infectious diseases develop resistance to not only the primary antibiotic treatments available in the clinic but also to drugs of last resort which often require long treatment periods and come with significant side effects. At the same time many promising lead compounds with high activity and wide therapeutic windows have failed to progress to clinical trials due to poor solubility, protein absorption or other difficulties in formulation (e.g. low drugability). LeadtoTreat proposes a new solution to these challenges by introduction of a platform for future infection treatment enabling targeted delivery of novel lead compounds with low drugability as well as synergistic combinations of antibiotics and potentiators in a nano-formulation. A novel dual targeting approach, with both direct targeting toward the pathogenic bacteria as well as to areas of inflammation will be employed. This platform technology will be demonstrated by converting a highly active, but insoluble and protein binding, novel compound into targeted nano-formulations for treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections with proven in vivo and in vitro safety. Furthermore, LeadtoTreat aims to identify novel synergistic combinations of antibiotics and potentiators and convert these into highly active targeted nano-formulations for treatment of MRSA infections. LeadToTreat will have significant impact on the future treatment of microbial infections, by demonstrating a pathway to co-delivery of synergistic combination of existing antibiotics as well a path way to revitalize the huge library of abandoned low-drugability lead compounds. From an innovation perspective, it is expected to also develop broadly applicable targeting tools (for MRSA, and roadmap for other indications). The project will be managed by SINTEF (Norway) involving Narodowy Instytut Lekow (National Medicine Institute, NMI, Poland) and NanoTag Biotechnologies GmbH (NTB, Germany).