UK drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is collaborating with US life sciences company Fimbrion to develop a first-in-class small molecule drug to treat and prevent urinary tract infections (UTIs). The agreement marks the first collaboration between a biotech start-up and DPAc, which GSK launched in late 2010 to bring together industry and academia to translate research into medicines.

The joint project between Fimbrion and GSK’s Discovery Partnerships with Academia (DPAc) team is focusing on the preclinical development of mannosides – small molecule compounds that contain mannose, a sugar monomer important for human metabolism. Mannosides are thought to be able to treat and prevent UTIs, without inducing antibiotic resistance, by preventing the bacteria from sticking to the walls of the bladder. This allows the body to naturally eliminate the infection, which according to Fimbrion is the third leading indication for antibiotic therapy and the area where multidrug-resistant bacteria are becoming increasingly common.

“This and other types of antibiotic-sparing therapeutics will be essential to prevent and treat increasingly prevalent infectious disease syndromes caused by antibiotic-resistant pathogens,” said Scott Hultgren, president of Fimbrion Therapeutics. Fimbrion’s initial focus is on developing and commercializing an orally active drug to prevent and treat UTIs. The St. Louis, Missouri-based company will then continue to further develop its platform technology and pipeline with additional narrow-spectrum antimicrobial strategies to combat UTIs and other bacterial infections that can overcome existing resistance mechanisms and minimize the emergence of new ones.