St. Louis, MO, July 14, 2015 — BacterioScan Inc. announced a collaboration with Venatorx Pharmaceuticals Inc. to help reduce the cost and time associated with antimicrobial drug discovery and development.
Antibiotics are among the most successful medical breakthroughs in the history of medicine and it is well known that drug-resistant bacteria, or superbugs, present a serious and worsening threat to human health. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, “2 million Americans acquire serious infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year, and 23,000 of them die as a result”. According to the PEW Charitable Trust, “Developing new drugs involves a great deal of time, effort, scientific research and expense and it is estimated that only 1 out of 5 drugs that reach the initial phase of testing in humans will receive Food and Drug Administration approval for use”. As a result, antibiotic development has not kept pace and few novel products are being developed.
BacterioScan’s instruments (Model 216R) and disposables are deployed globally for clinical studies within world-class institutions. “The core of this research is the rapid detection of antibiotic resistance and the precise determination of antibiotic susceptibility and patient-specific drug and dose concentrations for a variety of bacterial infections,” said Dana Marshall, BacterioScan President and CEO. “Initial work has clearly shown that our company’s technology can reduce the time to detect resistance from over 30 hours to less than two hours; this dramatic improvement in time-to-result can reduce antibiotic development time and costs as well as speed clinical trial enrollment; supporting the global need for antibiotic stewardship. BacterioScan Inc. and Venatorx Pharmaceuticals believe that the combination of Venatorx’s novel antimicrobial compounds and BacterioScan’s rapid detection technologies could help speed new antibiotic drug discovery and development, reduce costs and support the global antibiotic stewardship mission.
“The BacterioScan platform promises to reduce the time required to profile the spectrum of activity of potential antibiotics, thereby increasing discovery efficiency. Moreover, the technology could ultimately lead to a more expeditious characterization of the susceptibility profile of isolates from patient samples, resulting in rapid administration of appropriate initial antibiotic therapy,” said Dr. Daniel Pevear, Venatorx Vice President of Biology and Grants Development. “Venatorx is very excited about the opportunity to collaborate with BacterioScan.”
About BacterioScan Inc.
BacterioScan Inc. is an in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) company focused on the rapid detection and real-time quantification of bacteria in fluid using optical measurements. BacterioScan’s instruments can rapidly detect infection, determine if it is resistant to a range of antibiotics, and provide clinicians with patient-specific guidance on the most rapid and cost-effective treatment plan. BacterioScan’s first medical device product is a compact, simple, and low-cost system for rapid detection of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) for use in clinical microbiology labs. BacterioScan is a privately held global corporation, with headquarters in St Louis, Missouri.
About Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Venatorx Pharmaceuticals is a private pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of the next generation of antibiotics. Venatorx focuses on immediate and emerging threats, including both serious hospital and community infections, as well as potential bioweapons agents. The Company’s research and development include programs for novel beta-lactamase inhibitors, penicillin binding protein inhibitors, next generation carbapenems, and antiviral agents. The Company’s lead program, a pan-beta-lactamase inhibitor, is being developed through an NIH contract and by a Wellcome Trust Foundation Translational Fund Award. The Company has also received numerous NIH grants that support the Company’s research and development programs.