Medicines For Malaria Venture (MMV) has offered a Pathogen Box of active compounds for scientists across the world to boost neglected disease drug discovery

Modelled on MMV’s award winning Open Access Malaria Box, the Pathogen Box of 400 active compounds was launched in December 2015. Today, CO-ADD has received the Pathogen Box free of charge. In return, CO-ADD will publish any data generated in the public domain, thus creating an open and collaborative forum for neglected diseases drug research.

We will now test the 400 compounds to find a potential new antibiotic to fight drug-resistant bacteria. In the CO-ADD workflow in the primary screen the compounds will be tested against the key ESKAPE pathogens, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus (MRSA), as well as the fungi C. neoformans and C. albicans. The screen will be at a single concentration (32 µg/mL) and will provide initial activity data to select compounds for further more detailed screening.  Watch CO-ADD's compound preparation video.

Dr Alysha Elliott, CO-ADD Program Coordinator: Microbiology & Screening, in the CO-ADD microbiology lab at The University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience