London/England (2 November 2020) – Stonehaven Incubate AG and Agile Sciences Inc have completed initial studies validating the safety and efficacy of Agile’s small molecules, leading to the formation of a new company, Anifera Limited. Anifera will have the exclusive rights to manufacture, develop and commercialise the family of molecules in all applications in animal health.
The AgilyteTM family of compounds have been shown to increase the susceptibility of highly resistant strains of bacteria to antibiotics, thereby requiring the use of fewer antibiotics, for less time, to elicit an effect and impact the dispersion and inhibition of biofilms.
AgilytesTM uniquely disable bacterial protection mechanisms resulting in enhanced antibiotic activity, disruption, and prevention of biofilms and mitigation of bacterial resistance. AgilyteTM compounds have been modified from a naturally occurring molecule found in a marine sponge which originally had been shown to have anti-biofilm properties. These compounds have since shown to be effective in overcoming resistance in multiple pre-clinical studies against a wide variety of gram positive and gram negative pathogens, including multi-drug resistant microbes.
Stonehaven Incubate Venture Partner, Dr. Gwynneth Thomas, said: “Our proof-of-concept trials have initially focused on reducing the impact of naturally occurring mastitis and proved to be safe and efficacious. We found the addition of the compound to standard antibiotic treatment resulted in a faster and greater reduction in enumerated bacterial counts. Anifera is a new company to further explore the use of these compounds in multiple settings. We believe the compounds have the potential to impact the use of antibiotics across multiple different diseases in both production and companion animals. There is a growing need for more effective solutions to combat the overuse of antibiotics and this technology provides a unique opportunity to achieve this.”
Dr. John Cavanagh, co-founder of Agile Sciences, said: “At Agile we’re conducting pioneering work towards the goal of reducing the use of antibiotics globally and have had several recent successes on the human health side and are currently moving one of our lead compounds through the pre-clinical process with the intention of initiating a clinical trial against highly resistant A. Baumannaii infections. We’re delighted to be able to take this next step in the development of these game-changing compounds for animal health.”
Anifera was officially launched 29 September 2020.
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About Anifera
Anifera is a new company which aims to be the preferred adjunct therapy for antibiotics; improving their efficacy and ultimately reducing their use. Anifera was officially launched 29 September 2020. www.anifera.com
About Stonehaven Incubate
Swiss based Stonehaven Incubate was formed in February 2018 and is a dedicated, animal health group committed to creating new companies de novo applying disruptive human technology. Stonehaven Incubate works with innovators and builds strategies for new, stand-alone animal health companies. It finds experienced management teams and sources the required capital, leaving no stone unturned in its quest to bring human innovations to animal health. www.stonehaven-incubate.com
Agile Sciences, Inc.
Agile Sciences, Inc. is a pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical company based in Raleigh, NC USA. It is pioneering an entirely new mechanistic approach for the treatment of antibiotic resistant, life-threatening infections.
Agile was founded by Dr. John Cavanagh, previously at the Department of Molecular & Structural Biochemistry at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and Dr. Christian Melander, George & Winifred Clark Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Notre Dame University. The company recently completed a successful round of fund raising, securing $5M in equity financing in May 2020. www.agilesci.com
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