A cochlea and hairs
As superbugs rise in incidence, scientists are scrambling to find new anti-infective drugs to combat these hardy microbes. Seattle startup Oricula Therapeutics is developing a drug that could help bring a line of antibiotics, called aminoglycosides, into broader use.
Aminoglycosides are powerful drugs used primary for serious Gram-negative bacterial infections – with use in treating septicemia, E. Coli and a number of other hard-to-control conditions. However, they are used very sparingly because they carry a high risk of causing auditory toxicity – hearing loss or even deafness – in patients.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Oricula Therapeutics’ aim is to protect the inner ear from damage caused by antibiotic use. In animal models, Oricula says its drug protects the delicate hair cells within the ear from antibiotic-related death.
The company just received a $2 million NIH grant to wrap up preclinical work for its lead compound, ORC-13661. This round will help with safety and toxicology testing to allow for an IND to be filed, and Phase 1 testing to begin.
“Now that the preclinical workup is assured, I’m spending much of my time designing the ideal first-in-human proof-of-concept clinical trials for our lead compound,” Oricula CEO Malcolm Gleser said in a statement.
[Image courtesy of Flickr user eLife]
