A company co-founded by a Glasgow professor has secured £1 million in grant funding to further work into combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to antibiotics.
The money has been awarded to Glox Therapeutics by Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy (PACE), one of the UK’s largest public-private initiatives targeting early-stage antimicrobial medicines and diagnostic discovery. The money will allow the company to expand its team and accelerate development of its antibiotics targeting drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, both of which are major cause of serious conditions such as pneumonia, blood stream infections and recurrent urinary tract infections.
Glox was set up in February 2023 by Daniel Walker from the University of Glasgow - now at the University of Strathclyde - and Colin Kleanthous from the University of Oxford. Both are experts in bacteriocin research.
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“We are grateful to PACE for their support and recognising the groundbreaking potential of our unique technology," said James Clark, chief executive of Glox. "Glox Therapeutics is one of only a handful of companies to have been selected for PACE funding so far which is a true testament to the expertise of our world-leading team.
"AMR poses a significant threat to human health globally and this grant will enable us to expand our team and progress the development of our innovative engineered bacteriocins to help combat two of the most life-threatening pathogens."
The therapeutics developed by Glox target specific pathogens, or a closely related group of pathogens, to selectively eradicate drug-resistant bacteria. Unlike conventional antibiotics these do not harm the human microbiome, ensuring a more effective treatment strategy with reduced side-effects.
“This latest PACE funding for Glox Therapeutics is a massive boost to the business who are operating in such a critical development area," said Kerry Sharp of Scottish Enterprise, an investor in Glox.
"At Scottish Enterprise, one of our aims is to double the number of scaling businesses, which will lead to more high value jobs supporting the transformation of the Scottish economy. This is why we’re collaborating closely with our partners, like Innovate UK, to make it easier for ambitious high growth businesses in Scotland to access the innovation support needed to grow and scale.”
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