National Institute of Health (NIH) awards InfeXtious Therapeutic a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant for the development of broad-spectrum cyclic amphiphilic peptides to combat antimicrobial resistance

InfeXtious Therapeutic, a subsidiary of AJK Biopharmaceutical, is headquartered at University Lab Partners, the premier life science incubator located in UCI Research Park.

IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- InfeXtious Therapeutic announces a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant award from the National Institute of Health (NIH). In collaboration with Dr. Rakesh Tiwari of Chapman University, the grant will support the development of broad-spectrum cyclic amphiphilic peptides to combat antimicrobial resistance.

The overuse of antibiotic drugs in agriculture, aquaculture, animal feed, and medicine has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria develop a defense mechanism against one or multiple antibiotic drugs. Antibiotic resistance has become one of the significant public health challenges of our time. There are only a few treatment options available for people infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi cause more than 2.8 million infections and 35,000 deaths in the United States and 750,000 worldwide annually.

"Our mission is to evaluate, develop, and invest in new and improved treatments that are urgently needed to tackle antibiotic resistance and generate drugs that are active against the antibiotic-resistant infections," stated Dr. Assad Kazeminy, Chairman and CEO of AJK Biopharmaceutical.

InfeXtious Therapeutic is a small biotechnology company with a novel cyclic peptides platform to combat antimicrobial resistance. We have developed several active lead candidates against multi-drug resistant gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and pathogenic fungi. Our developed cyclic peptide-based discovery platform offers a multitude of anti-infectious drug lead candidates with superior properties of selectivity, synergistic activity with current antibiotics, stability, and activity against bacterial biofilm as compared to classically designed small molecules.

University Lab Partners (ULP) is a premier, nonprofit, wet lab incubator located in UCI Research Park in Irvine, CA. ULP is a professionally managed and equipped wet lab facility along with the benefits of peer-to-peer interactions among a life science-focused entrepreneurial community.

SOURCE University Lab Partners