It seems that there is much anticipation about the collaboration between AiCuris Anti-infective Cures and Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology (MPI) on an anti-infectives project.

AiCuris and MPI stated, “The collaboration is based on a long-lasting scientific partnership and joint research interests, which aims to further strengthen the already existing relationship to fuel an in-depth collaboration.”

AiCuris along with Prof. H.C. Waldmann, Director of the Chemical Biology Department at MPI, will jointly investigate and optimize antibacterial or antiviral compounds, which could be developed into anti-infective drugs.

Dr. Holger Zimmermann, CEO of AiCuris said, “We strongly believe the development of new antibacterial drugs is crucial to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria that is killing around 25,000 people every year in Europe; one way to develop a resistance-breaking drug is to disregard well-trodden paths and explore new opportunities. We are very excited to be working with the MPI and its proprietary library of nature-derived compounds as nature has often proven to be the perfect blueprint for innovative concepts.”

Prof. H.C. Waldmann further added, “Novel antibiotics are in high demand due to the global rise of resistance to existing drugs. Natural products have been an invaluable source of novel antibiotics, and the concepts developed at MPI Dortmund for the design and synthesis of novel natural product inspired compounds could pave the way to the discovery of new drugs. The expertise of MPI scientists in chemical biology partnered with AiCuris proven experience in drug development could result in the discovery and development of innovative approaches to fight bacterial and viral resistance.”