March 2003

Prolysis Ltd and the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Form Collaboration to Combat Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

Project to be funded under the DTI/BBSRC/MRC LINK Programme in Applied Genomics

Prolysis Ltd and Professor Jeff Errington at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, are collaborating to combat the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten healthcare worldwide. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the University of Oxford, and Prolysis, spun out from Isis in 1998, have funded the £1.6m three-year collaboration via the Link Programme in Applied Genomics.

The collaboration expects to deliver novel validated antibiotic targets that are amenable to inhibition by small molecules, methodology to identify the biological function/pathway of genes, technology to develop assays in the absence of functional information and a tool kit of methods to identify the targets of novel antibiotics. Prolysis has first option to exploit all of the intellectual property arising from the collaboration.

Professor Jeff Errington, CSO and founder of Prolysis as well as Professor of Microbiology at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, commented: "The collaboration between my University laboratory and Prolysis gives us the opportunity to explore fundamental questions about bacterial cellular processes using novel tools and technologies not currently possible in either organisation alone. This collaboration will accelerate and enhance Prolysis' discovery research activity, providing a pipeline of novel targets and technology to fuel their growth. It's a very exciting opportunity."

Notes to Editors

1. Prolysis Ltd, a privately owned company, was established in 1998 and is a spin-out from the University of Oxford. It is dedicated to the discovery and development of effective antibacterial compounds. Prolysis targets essential cellular processes not inhibited by current antibiotics and aims to discover and develop inhibitors of these processes through early Phase II clinical studies. Ultimately, such novel antibiotics would then be marketed through collaboration with larger biotech/pharma companies. Prolysis has already developed high-throughput screens covering five essential processes; cell division, DNA replication, chromosome segregation, DNA supercoiling and RNA transcription. Prolysis accesses world-class medicinal and development chemistry and drug discovery services through Evotec OAI AG. For further details on Prolysis, and the Evotec OAI collaboration see http://www.prolysis.com.
2. The collaboration focuses on the use of Bacillus subtilis as a model organism with relevance to understanding gene function and the genome architecture of pathogenic bacteria. The intention is to exploit and extend the multiple resources created by the sequencing of its genome and the preliminary characterisation of its genes, carried out by a worldwide consortium of academic laboratories. This characterisation has so far been limited to transcriptional and translational patterns, and categorisation of gene activity into twelve broad cellular processes. This collaboration will enable Jeff Errington to continue his work on the understanding of essential Bacillus genes identified by the consortium and to develop and validate new technologies that define gene function, based on non-isotopic tools. This collaboration will accelerate Prolysis' Discovery pipeline by supporting their 2nd generation target discovery programme, aimed at recognising, validating and exploiting valuable targets missed by 1st generation antibiotic target identification technologies.
3. The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, teaches physiology and medicine to undergraduates and has an extensive research programme covering a wide range of fields including, bacteriology and virology, cell biology, immunology, and molecular biology. The Dunn School is famous for pioneering work on penicillin and cephalosporins, which brought in the antibiotic era. The School was rated 5* in the Research Assessment Exercise published in December 2001. http://www.path.ox.ac.uk/.
4. LINK is the Government's principal mechanism for promoting partnership in pre-competitive research between industry and the research base. It aims to stimulate innovation, wealth creation and improve the quality of life. The scheme offers an opportunity to engage with some of the best and most creative minds in the country, to tackle new scientific and technological challenges so that industry can go on to develop innovative and commercially successful products, processes and services. The LINK Applied Genomics programme is jointly sponsored by BBSRC, DTI and MRC with a total of £15M of public funding to be matched by industrial contributions. The overall objective of the Applied Genomics Programme is to encourage research collaborations between industry and academia that will use genome sequence and genetic data to identify new functionalities in biological systems that are capable of exploitation in the healthcare industries. For more information see the Applied Genomics initiative website: http://www.appgen.org.uk/
5. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is the leading funding agency for non-medical academic research and training in the biosciences at universities and institutes throughout the UK. http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/

For further information please contact:

Dr Lloyd Czaplewski, Director of Research
Prolysis Ltd
T 01865 854700