- Manos Perros, Ph.D, Vice President and head of Infectious Disease Innovative Medicines (iMed) at AstraZeneca
- Steve Projan, Ph.D, Vice President, Research & Development and head Infectious Disease iMed at MedImmune
A critical, yet often overlooked area of medicine, infectious disease leads to lost productivity, missed educational opportunities and high healthcare costs that directly impact families and communities.[1] AstraZeneca and MedImmune are committed to advancing research into infectious disease with our team of industry-leading scientists who are at the forefront of discovery in this area. We are one of the few organizations in the biopharmaceutical sector that remains committed to the study of infectious disease. We believe that our organization stands alone in this area by way of the depth and breadth of our scientific organization and the advances it fosters, spanning small molecules to novel biologics. Our ever-growing and robust cadre of infectious disease drug candidates is an example of our full-spectrum pipeline. An example of this burgeoning area of scientific interest is on display at ICAAC 2011:
- The evolution of multi-drug resistant MRSA strains has rendered obsolete many of the available antibiotics. An alternative approach is using preformed antibodies, namely immunoprophylaxis and immunotherapy, to the target pathogen to either prevent or treat infections caused by MDR pathogens. Antibodies targeting pathogen may ultimately be shown to offer important options in the prevention and/or treatment of these infections. MedImmune will be presenting initial preclinical data on four monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) designed to prevent antibiotic-resistant staph infection, commonly known as MRSA. In the study, mice passively immunized with each of four inhibitory mAbs exhibited a significant reduction of lesion size relative to mice treated with a control. In addition, a significant reduction of bacteria in skin was observed in immunized mice six to nine days after the infection was introduced.
- Identification and Characterization of Potent Inhibitory Anti-Alpha Toxin mAbs Limiting Staphylococcal Skin Soft Tissue Infection. Session # 194-Management Issues in Skin and Soft Tissue Infections
- Other topics of interest include: New AntiTuberculosis agents, ß-Lactamase Inhibitors, Gram positive and Gram negative agents, and Novel DNA Gyrase Inhibitors
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact:
Andrea Conners (AstraZeneca) + 1 302 885 7652
Perla Copernik (MedImmune) + 1 301 398 4952
