VASTox identifiies novel compound that kill tubercolosis bacteria
VASTox plc reports positive results in its tuberculosis ("TB") drug discovery programme. The Company has identified from its proprietary screening libraries several novel series' of small, drug-like molecules that show high levels of in vitro efficacy against the bacterium that causes TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The results from these efficacy studies against M. tuberculosis have been validated in three world-class laboratories in both the UK and US.
VASTox's TB programme targets N-acetyltransferase ("NAT"), an enzyme implicated in the growth of M. tuberculosis. VASTox has shown that compounds which inhibit the target enzyme are also active against M. tuberculosis resulting in cell death and therefore these positive results provide support for the Company's novel approach towards the development of new TB medicines.
VASTox's TB programme is part of its anti-infectives focus, which is one of the Company's core areas of expertise. Following the success of these initial screens, a chemical optimisation programme has begun with the aim of further enhancing the efficacy of the identified compounds. VASTox has already increased the value of the active compounds through safety and toxicity screening in the Company's market-leading zebrafish technology platform, in advance of a series of in vivo studies planned for Q4 of 2007.
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