YALE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND RIB-X CO-FOUNDER DISCOVERS NOVEL RIBOSOME ANTIBIOTIC STRUCTURES THAT MAY LEAD TO NEW TREATMENTS FOR DRUG-RESISTANT INFECTIONS
— New Research Published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology —
NEW HAVEN, CT, February 16, 2010 — Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,
a development-stage antibiotics company with a broad product pipeline based on its
innovative discovery platform, and Yale University today announced the discovery
by Thomas Steitz, Ph. D., co-founder of Rib-X and Yale University professor, of
important new ribosomal structures of antibiotics, enabling the potential creation
of novel treatments for drug-resistant infections, including tuberculosis (TB).
In the paper, "The Structures of the Anti-Tuberculosis Antibiotics Viomycin and Capreomycin Bound to the 70S Ribosome," published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (advance online publication, 14 February 2010), Dr. Steitz and his colleagues at Yale's Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, describe how they have identified two structures of tuberactinomycins (antibiotics used to treat TB) bound to the ribosome. The identification of these structures provides insight for design of novel antibiotic derivatives that could be effective against a variety of drug- resistant microorganisms.
"It is gratifying that Dr. Steitz and his colleagues have determined the structure of a drug used to treat TB bound to the ribosome, which is its target. The information they have obtained may make it possible to develop new drugs for treating this serious disease," commented Peter Moore, Ph. D., Sterling Professor of Chemistry, and Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale Univeristy and a Rib-X co-founder.
"The Rib-X drug discovery initiative will greatly benefit by access to this new, high quality structural information," said Susan Froshauer, Ph. D., Founder and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Rib-X Pharmaceuticals." "This work provides the basis for Rib-X to create completely novel and more effective antibiotics for treating a variety of drug-resistant infections."
In December 2009, Rib-X expanded its license agreement with Yale University in the area of ribosomal antibiotic structure and function. Under the agreement, Rib-X will further explore the high-resolution crystal structure of new ribosome technology elucidated by Dr. Thomas Steitz and colleagues at Yale. Dr. Steitz was awardrd the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his ground-breaking work determining a high-resolution crystal structure of the 50S ribosomal subunit of the ribosome, which has proved to be a major target for antibiotic development.
"It's very exciting to continually add to our knowledge of the ribosome. These structures of viomycin and capreomycin bound to the ribosome allowed us to identify an important new ribosome binding site and to better understand how these antibiotics inhibit function," said Thomas Steitz, Ph. D., Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Rib-X co-founder.
About Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has an industry-leading pipeline of novel antibiotics targeting multidrug-resistant infections in significant and growing segments of the $25 billion antibiotics market. The Rib-X portfolio has four core programs including two late-stage product candidates, Delafloxacin and Radezolid, both potentially best-in-class antibiotics being developed in market-preferred intravenous and oral formulations for maximum flexibility. The foundation of the Rib-X product portfolio is its proven discovery technology, the Ribosome Antibiotic Binding "RAB" platform, using Nobel-prize-winning knowledge of ribosomal structure and mechanisms of antibiotic binding to create new chemical classes of antibiotics for a wide range of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.
In the paper, "The Structures of the Anti-Tuberculosis Antibiotics Viomycin and Capreomycin Bound to the 70S Ribosome," published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (advance online publication, 14 February 2010), Dr. Steitz and his colleagues at Yale's Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, describe how they have identified two structures of tuberactinomycins (antibiotics used to treat TB) bound to the ribosome. The identification of these structures provides insight for design of novel antibiotic derivatives that could be effective against a variety of drug- resistant microorganisms.
"It is gratifying that Dr. Steitz and his colleagues have determined the structure of a drug used to treat TB bound to the ribosome, which is its target. The information they have obtained may make it possible to develop new drugs for treating this serious disease," commented Peter Moore, Ph. D., Sterling Professor of Chemistry, and Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale Univeristy and a Rib-X co-founder.
"The Rib-X drug discovery initiative will greatly benefit by access to this new, high quality structural information," said Susan Froshauer, Ph. D., Founder and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Rib-X Pharmaceuticals." "This work provides the basis for Rib-X to create completely novel and more effective antibiotics for treating a variety of drug-resistant infections."
In December 2009, Rib-X expanded its license agreement with Yale University in the area of ribosomal antibiotic structure and function. Under the agreement, Rib-X will further explore the high-resolution crystal structure of new ribosome technology elucidated by Dr. Thomas Steitz and colleagues at Yale. Dr. Steitz was awardrd the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his ground-breaking work determining a high-resolution crystal structure of the 50S ribosomal subunit of the ribosome, which has proved to be a major target for antibiotic development.
"It's very exciting to continually add to our knowledge of the ribosome. These structures of viomycin and capreomycin bound to the ribosome allowed us to identify an important new ribosome binding site and to better understand how these antibiotics inhibit function," said Thomas Steitz, Ph. D., Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Rib-X co-founder.
About Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has an industry-leading pipeline of novel antibiotics targeting multidrug-resistant infections in significant and growing segments of the $25 billion antibiotics market. The Rib-X portfolio has four core programs including two late-stage product candidates, Delafloxacin and Radezolid, both potentially best-in-class antibiotics being developed in market-preferred intravenous and oral formulations for maximum flexibility. The foundation of the Rib-X product portfolio is its proven discovery technology, the Ribosome Antibiotic Binding "RAB" platform, using Nobel-prize-winning knowledge of ribosomal structure and mechanisms of antibiotic binding to create new chemical classes of antibiotics for a wide range of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.
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Gina Nugent
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