Can cancer drugs reverse antibiotic resistance?

The Antibiotic Research UK (ANTRUK) charity is launching its first research programme to test whether existing therapies for the treatment of medical conditions can reverse the antibiotic resistance of superbugs

ANTRUK’s programme will challenge the rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria (superbugs) by screening antibiotic resistance breakers against antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria.

The charity is asking scientific organisations and universities to submit tenders for this testing to see if therapies already in use and being safely administered in humans can be co-administered with antibiotics.

This is the first of five projects to be carried out in the next five to seven years, with the ultimate objective of developing new antibiotic therapies for use by the early 2020’s to overcome superbugs, according to ANTRUK.

In the first of its five projects up to 1500 drugs in use today for any therapeutic purpose, for example cancer treatment, heart disease and arthritis, will be tested to find out if any can reverse antibiotic resistance.

The target antibiotic resistance bacteria to be examined in the screen are the so-called Gram-negative type and according to ANTRUK, these species are responsible for urinary tract, skin and blood infections as well as pneumonia. 

Colin Garner, ANTRUK Chief Executive, said: “Our Antibiotic Resistance Breaker programme could potentially find new ways of extending the life of our existing antibiotics at a fraction of the cost and time compared to conventional drug development”.

David Brown an ex-senior research executive who has worked for Pfizer, Roche and AstraZeneca and current chair of ANTRUK’s scientific and technical Advisory Committee, said: “Our Committee has been developing this programme for the past 12 months.

“I believe it offers the possibility of finding new antibiotic therapies to meet our goal of bringing one into clinic by the early 2020’s. The Charity is delighted to be starting real research now”.