Prolysis Ltd collaborates to Combat Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
30th March 2003
Project to be funded under the DTI/BBSRC/MRC LINK Programme in Applied Genomics.
Prolysis Ltd and Professor Jeff Errington at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, are collaborating to combat the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten healthcare worldwide. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the University of Oxford, and Prolysis, spun out from Isis in 1998, have funded the £1.6m three-year collaboration via the Link Programme in Applied Genomics.
The collaboration expects to deliver novel validated antibiotic targets that are amenable to inhibition by small molecules, methodology to identify the biological function/pathway of genes, technology to develop assays in the absence of functional information and a tool kit of methods to identify the targets of novel antibiotics. Prolysis has first option to exploit all of the intellectual property arising from the collaboration.
Professor Jeff Errington, CSO and founder of Prolysis as well as Professor of Microbiology at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, commented: “The collaboration between my University laboratory and Prolysis gives us the opportunity to explore fundamental questions about bacterial cellular processes using novel tools and technologies not currently possible in either organisation alone. This collaboration will accelerate and enhance Prolysis’ discovery research activity, providing a pipeline of novel targets and technology to fuel their growth. It’s a very exciting opportunity.”
