PhD Student to Entrepreneur

Professor Jim Thomas (left) and his PhD student Kirsty Smitten (right)

Kirsty Smitten and Professor Jim Thomas secured funding from Innovate UK to participate in the ‘Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research” ICURe programme. The programme is a highly competitive scheme that selects research teams with the most promising commercialisation technology. The funding allows the team to explore the market potential of their technology through discussions with potential partners, customers and collaborators. As part of the scheme Kirsty has attended numerous trade shows and conferences such as the World Antimicrobial Resistance Congress and BIO-Europe 2020.

The team, MetalloBio, have produced two antimicrobial compounds with activities as high as commercial antibiotics. this activity is retained in multi-drug resistant strains identified by the World Health Organisation as Priority 1: Critical for discovering new antibiotics. During the ICURe programme MetalloBio have discovered three different routes to market for their technology: a systemic antimicrobial, a coating on medical devices or an additive within paints or plastics. They have spoken to a number of potential partners, including large pharmaceutical companies. Some of these have provided matched funding and signed NDAs to explore routes to develop the technology. This includes companies such as Heraeus, Merck and the AMR Centre at Alderley Park.

Upon completion of the programme in January, Kirsty will partake in the options roundabout pitch. At the end of the pitch a number of teams are selected to progress onto the next ICURe programme, which involves developing a business plan for spinning out or licensing out the technology. At the end of this programme teams are invited to pitch for up to £300,000 seed funding from Innovate UK. Given the current success of the ICURe programme and the nature of partnering conversations it is looking likely the team will spinout to form

MetalloBio in the very near future. By Kirsty Smitten

MetalloBio’s Future Plans

Antimicrobial resistance is already responsible for 700,000 annual fatalities globally. By 2050 this figure is expected to rise to 10 million costing the economy £66 trillion. MetalloBio are actively trying to reduce these predicted deaths through the synthesis and development of two commercially promising antimicrobial compounds.

The mononuclear complex is a broad spectrum antimicrobial that interferes with bacterial DNA processing. The dinuclear complex targets Gram-negative bacteria with a focus on urinary tract infections and nosocomial infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria such as Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter. Both complexes have a modular synthesis and a novel structure resulting in the capability to generate a new class of antimicrobial compounds. This is particularly important as a new class of antimicrobial compounds haven’t reached the clinic in over 30-years. Currently the compounds are in the pre-clinical stage with efficacy being demonstrated in in-vitro, ex-vivo and in-vivo models. The team are currently seeking funding and partnership to move onto the next phases of development.

QR Code - direct to MetalloBio Website for futher information.