       Discovery ProgramsDiscovery Programs—yielding completely new classes of products to deliver lifesaving drugs for the most difficult to treat, resistant superbugs.
Rib-X's discovery programs target the bacterial ribosome, which is the cellular machinery that produces proteins, for prospective drug discovery. The ribosome is a well-validated target. Most of the marketed classes of antibiotics—including the macrolides, lincosamides, phenylpropanoids, oxazolidinones, tetracyclines and aminoglycosides—work by inhibiting its function. Unique as a molecular target, the ribosome is a target-of-targets, meaning that many of these distinct classes array themselves in adjacent binding pockets where protein synthesis takes place. The result of this is a large and feature-full binding site for the design of new antibiotics. The Company's key competitive advantage is its focus on the three-dimensional properties of antibiotics. Rib-X has proprietary understanding of the atomic-level details of the bacterial ribosome— the target of most marketed antibiotics—and the ability to use those insights in the prospective design of next-generation and completely new classes of antibiotics, two factors central to the discovery process.
RX-05 and RX-06
Rib-X's newest discovery programs are RX-05, focused on the development of a novel antibiotic scaffold, and RX-06, focused on the development of a novel antifungal scaffold. The current goals for the RX-05 and RX-06 programs are to show proof-of-concept by designing, preparing and validating at least one novel chemical scaffold that meets the following criteria:
• binds in the intended region as measured crystallographically;
• has functional activity at the target; and
• shows activity in cell culture.
We expect that achievement of this proof-of-concept will provide the necessary chemical foundation for lead identification/lead optimization programs in 2012.
RX-02
Our RX-02 novel macrolide program is designed to overcome known ribosomal resistance modifications in a wide range of pathogens, including those generally associated with hospital-acquired Gram-positive infections, community respiratory tract infections and skin infections seen both in hospital and community settings. RX-02 is a discovery program that we are not currently developing on our own and for which we are currently seeking partners.
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