New drugs from bugs
Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Birmingham have discovered how marine bacteria join together two antibiotics they make independently to produce a potent chemical that can kill drug-resistant strains of the MRSA superbug.
Working with Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi-Sankyo, and funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the researchers’ work paves the way for the creation of new hybrid antibiotics that may help to solve the growing problem of bacterial infections that are resistant to essentially all antibiotics.
The research is published online in the journal PLoS ONE.
The team, comprising chemists from Bristol and microbial geneticists from Birmingham, determined the sequence of the complete DNA content of the marine bacterium that produces the new antibiotic, thiomarinol, owned by Daiichi-Sankyo. They then identified the genes responsible for making the antibiotic on the basis of their similarity to genes that make the related but less potent antibiotic, mupirocin, which is currently used to combat MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus).
They found the genes are on a relatively small, separate DNA molecule called a plasmid, which is just big enough to carry the genes for making the antibiotic plus genes to allow the plasmid to replicate autonomously in the bacterium. The plasmid thus carries genes that make both the mupirocin-like antibiotic as well a second antibiotic, holomycin, and a gene responsible for joining both antibiotics together, forming a more potent molecule.
Tests showed that by joining the antibiotics together the resulting chemical is able to inhibit the growth of MRSA strains that have become resistant to mupirocin.
Professor Chris Thomas, lead researcher from the University of Birmingham, said: “This shows how mupirocin can be modified to make it more potent and suggests that related molecules could be used against the increasingly problematic Enterobacteriacae like Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae.”
By using mutant strains that were unable to make either the mupirocin part or the holomycin part the team was able to feed alternative compounds to the bacteria – so-called mutasynthesis – so that a family of novel molecules was created, and tests showed some of these had biological activity.
Professor Thomas added: “This provides hope that the system will allow the production of new antibiotics that may help to combat the growing problem of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria.”
Online Exclusive: UW researchers’ high ties to big pharmaceuticals
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently ran an investigative piece on a University of Wisconsin research group called UW Pain and Policy Studies Group. The investigation found the group repeatedly advocated against stricter regulations in the use of painkillers known as opioids. Perhaps the most notable of these painkillers is OxyContin, which is manufactured by Purdue Pharma, a company that has given the research group $1.6 million over the past decade. The story went on to point out the intricate and often undisclosed financial relationship between pharmaceutical companies and researchers, showing the research group received more than $2.5 million in funding from pharmaceuticals.
Pharmaceuticals are big business, I know, not exactly a shocker. Purdue Pharma alone pulled in $3 billion in revenue last year, with sales skyrocketing after the FDA approved the use of OxyContin in the United States.
There are two main problems this story reveals that need to be addressed for the improvement of health care in this country.
The first is the separation of researcher and manufacturer. The university had some answers when asked by the Sentinel about the relationship between these two entities. UW spokesperson Lisa Brunette said the money given was in educational grants with no strings attached and that the group did no direct work for the company. But businesses don’t make investments without cause, and the financial advantages to the researchers of producing favorable results appear to be a theme in the Sentinel’s investigation.
I don’t believe anything in the past was done illegally necessarily, but I think the positions taken by these individuals in medical journals greatly benefited the companies who had helped fund the research. At the same time, it provided the researchers themselves with easy money, while the proliferation of these drugs led to a sharp increase in related deaths.
A study presented by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linking deaths from narcotic painkiller abuse and a 500 percent increase in these drugs prescriptions highlights this correlation. These drugs present a real risk of dependence and long-term addiction, and a concerted effort to combat stricter regulations seems a dangerous, albeit profitable position to take.
My own solution to this conflict of interest would be to prevent pharmaceuticals from funding researchers, but obviously every company has the right to research its own products. But doctors need an unbiased opinion off of which they can base their prescription decisions. The government needs to step in and provide the increased research, providing these groups the educational grants they need to better understand the effects of new drugs.
The second problem I see is just the mind-boggling amount of money these companies make. We sit here and yell back and forth about health care reform, but it seems to me we would be better served addressing specific problems within that system. One problem: Prescription drugs cost a hell of a lot of money. Why? The most expensive drugs are rarely the ones that cost the most to produce. Instead, the most expensive drugs are the ones that fill a new niche in the market or have almost no competitors.
Then, when manufacturers and insurance companies sit down, there is very little to guide the negotiation. That certainly seems to make it a great investment to have a research group like UW Pain promoting the inclusion of opioids into the market when you have a pill ready to fill that niche. Yes, new drugs cost a lot of money to bring to market, but after that there is absolutely no relationship between what it costs to make an individual pill and what it sells for. The result puts both manufacturers and insurance companies in the drivers seat and leaves the average patient facing constantly rising costs and potentially unnecessary prescriptions.
I understand that the people working in our research facilities need funding, and outside of that researchers are looking for opportunities to profit from their knowledge. But is it really in the best interest of the patient to essentially have a company’s product rubber stamped by a research team? Watchdog journalism like the work done in this Sentinel piece can help highlight these conflicts of interest, but structural changes need to be made to ensure that new drugs are being created to better service the needs of the patient, not the bank accounts of the manufacturers.
Consumers Urged to Take Action to Stop the White House from Blocking Access to Low Cost Medicine from Pharmacies Abroad
The White House, through its Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, is taking actions that could block access by Americans to safe, low cost medicine from online pharmacies in Canada and elsewhere. Americans are being urged to contact the President and their Congressional representatives to stop this action from affecting properly credentialed pharmacies that safely sell geniune medication for use by patients that have prescriptions. Twenty-five million Americans already forgo their medicine due to cost according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Pharmacy students learning in a virtual world
The group has created a virtual island called ‘Pharmatopia’, which is divided into four zones, each with specific teaching and learning objectives including a manufacturing zone, clinical zone, community zone and industrial zone.
UQ Pharmacy lecturers, Ms Jacqueline Bond and Dr Sally Firth, who have been involved in the development of ‘Pharmatopia’, introduced UQ’s first-year pharmacy students to ‘Pharmatopia’ for the first time this semester as part of a virtual laboratory class.
Ms Bond said the virtual reality resource allowed students to practice pharmaceutical calculations required for the compounding process.
“Calculations are presented as prescriptions from virtual patients, phone enquiries or ‘chats’ with virtual nurses, doctors and patients,” Ms Bond said.
“Students select the required ingredients from an extensive selection of drugs and raw materials and measure out the correct amount or provide other dosage related data as prompted.
“It’s a much more fun way to learn calculations than the way we were traditionally taught and it’s been a very exciting project to develop.”
The ‘Pharmatopia’ project brings together expertise from each of the university collaborators in a shared practice model, in which each university builds a teaching module on the virtual world, and then shares it with the rest of the ‘Pharmatopia’ community.
UQ’s contribution to ‘Pharmatopia’ is a virtual compounding dispensary located in the manufacturing zone.
Lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, Dr Sally Firth, said she saw great potential in the virtual reality resource assisting her students in their studies.
“The virtual environment provides real-time feedback on a student’s progress, and allows students to practice an exercise many times without consuming actual resources, occupying laboratory space or needing the guidance of a tutor,” Dr Firth said.
“The online platform also allows for communication between students within the virtual environment, providing an opportunity to work together to solve problems.
“The project is currently in its Beta phase, and will continue to expand as new practice environments are added, but it seems that the sky is the limit for this revolutionary new learning model.”
Fourth year honours student Ms Helender Singh is conducting an evaluation of Pharmatopia as part of her Honours project.
“One of the real strengths of the UQ Pharmatopia compounding laboratory is that students can work in whatever location they choose,” Ms Singh said.
“Whether this is in the classroom, library or home, students can complete as many exercises as they want in a safe, anonymous and non-judgemental environment.”
Monash University is the project leader for ‘Pharmatopia’ and collaborators also include, University of Sydney; University of London (UK), Nottingham University (UK), University of Keele (UK), Uppsala University (Sweden); University of Copenhagen (Denmark); University of North Carolina (USA); University of Kansas (USA)