Released: Monday 2nd April 2012

Glasgow based MGB Biopharma which is developing a new class of antibiotic called DNA Minor Groove Binders, announced today that it has published the results of activity of its most advanced drug MGB-BP3 against Gram positive bacteria, including MRSA and vancomycin resistant enterococci. The company presented data at the 22nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in London on April 2nd.

The company’s technology was licensed from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and the company has been financed by a business angel syndicate led by Archangel Informal Investments Ltd in association with TriCapital Ltd, Barwell plc and the Scottish Co-investment Fund.

Gavin D Clark, Chief Business Officer and co-founder of MGB Biopharma said “These results confirm our new class to be a very significant new potential weapon against resistant bacterial infections. Last September we announced preclinical proof of concept for our lead compound for Clostridium difficile infections. That is a condition which exists in the gut and has to be treated orally. As we now know that MGB BP-3 is negligibly absorbed in the gut, the relevance of the new data is that we are now working on a second version of the same drug - this time given by injection, for life threatening infections caused by MRSA and other deadly drug resistant bacteria. Although we have recently been concentrating our limited resources on developing our drug for C difficile, in March we were fortunately able to gain a grant of £100,000 from the UK Government backed Technology Strategy Board. This has been dedicated entirely to the parallel development of a formulation suitable for injection into gravely ill patients. It is particularly pleasing to be able to work alongside our partners the University of Strathclyde as they have especially relevant technology and know-how to be able to formulate drugs like MGB-BP3”.

Professor Curtis Gemmell, Consultant Microbiologist at the University of Glasgow and senior member of research team, stated “The new data being presented shows that MGB-BP3 is active against the epidemic strains of MRSA causing infection in the United Kingdom as well as other causes of serious infection including those caused by vancomycin-resistant enterococci. MRSA and other staphylococci are rapidly killed by MGB-BP3 and at present there is no predisposition to the development of resistance among these bacteria. This is good news!”