Aptuit Enters Drug Discovery Collaboration

Aptuit is collaborating with the Molecular Surgical Laboratory of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), directed by Laurence Rahme, to identify and validate novel targets in Gram-negative bacteria, hoping that innovative approaches can address antibiotic resistance in the treatment of serious infections.

Aptuit will provide expertise in integrated infectious disease discovery, including in vitro and in vivo capabilities, complementing the Rahme Lab scientific platform and expertise in the field of the anti-virulence research.

"The academic collaboration with Aptuit, and in particular with its highly qualified anti-infective group, will maximize our success in developing highly innovative alternative therapies against multi-drug resistant pathogens, including those that are highly tolerant to all existing antibiotic therapies," said Dr. Rahme, associate professor of surgery, microbiology and immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, and director of the MGH Molecular Surgical Laboratory.

Antonio Felici, director and head of Aptuit's microbiology unit, said, "We are delighted to begin this collaboration with Dr. Rahme. This is an extremely promising area of research into antimicrobial resistance. Aptuit will provide expertise in integrated anti-infective drug discovery to MGH. We hope we will jointly discover new effective therapeutics against Gram-negative pathogens, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We look forward to a long, effective and successful collaboration."