Researchers to Develop Antibiotics Against Potential Bioterrorism Agents
Michael Johnson, professor and director of the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have received a $4 million federal grant to develop new antibiotics to treat anthrax, tularemia and plague.
Anthrax, tularemia and plague are caused by naturally occurring bacteria classified as “category-A” agents that could be used in bioterrorism and biowarfare.
These microorganisms pose a risk to national security because they can be easily transmitted and disseminated, result in high mortality, have potential major public health impact and could cause panic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These infections can be treated with current antibiotics, but none is ideal, says Michael Johnson, professor and director of the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and lead researcher on the two-year grant. Only one antibiotic, doxycycline, can be used to treat more than one of the three diseases, he said.
Worse, it may be possible for terrorists to develop multi-drug resistant strains for all three diseases, Johnson said. (more…)
Scientists Move Closer to a Safer Anthrax Vaccine
Electron microscope image of Bacillus anthracis spores at a magnification of 54,000.
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have identified two small protein fragments that could be developed into an anthrax vaccine that may cause fewer side effects than the current vaccine.
The research is significant because anthrax is considered a major bioterrorism threat. The current anthrax vaccine is intended mainly for members of the armed forces serving in areas considered high risk and for individuals involved in homeland biosecurity.
“Our research was motivated by the fact that the current anthrax vaccine has significant limitations and there is great need for a better one,” says lead author Nareen Abboud, Ph.D., an Einstein postdoctoral fellow and lead author of the study, which appears in the current issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry. The study’s senior author is Arturo Casadevall, M.D., Ph.D., Leo and Julia Forchheimer Professor and chairman of microbiology & immunology.
Anthrax, a disease caused by the bacterial species Bacillus anthracis, occurs when anthrax spores (the microbe’s dormant stage) are inhaled, ingested or enter the body through an open wound. Anthrax is a common disease among grazing animals such as cows, goats, and sheep but can also result from bioterrorism. (more…)
New Drug Possible Treatment for Weaponized Anthrax Exposure
Human Genome Sciences, Inc. today announced publication by the New England Journal of Medicine of the results of two pivotal animal efficacy studies, which showed the life-saving potential of the Company’s human monoclonal antibody drug raxibacumab (ABthrax™), as well as the results of human safety studies, which supported the use of raxibacumab in the event of life-threatening inhalation anthrax disease.
“The results published today showed that a single dose of raxibacumab was highly effective as a treatment for inhalation anthrax in both rabbits and monkeys,” said Sally D. Bolmer, Ph.D., R.A.C, lead author and Senior Vice President, Development and Regulatory Affairs, HGS. “Raxibacumab acted quickly to provide a significant survival benefit to animals showing clinical signs of disease caused by exposure to a dose of aerosolized anthrax spores that was approximately 200 times the median lethal dose. We also note that the safety profile shown in healthy human volunteers provides support for use of raxibacumab in the clinical setting of immediately life-threatening inhalation anthrax disease.” (more…)
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