Auspherix and Domainex collaborate for new drugs to combat antibiotic-resistance

UK biotech firm Domainex and Australian drug discovery company Auspherix, a spin-out from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), have signed a collaboration that will progress Auspherix’ novel anti-infective drug discovery programme towards the nomination of a clinical candidate.

Auspherix has in-licensed intellectual property from the ithree institute at UTS with the intention of developing antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action to treat resistant bacterial disease.

Auspherix director Ian Charles said: “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. We selected Domainex as our medicinal chemistry partner for this project, as its scientists are highly-experienced in the development of novel anti-infectives and we are looking forward to nominating a clinical candidate for progression into patients in due course.”