Preventing antibiotic resistant hospital acquired infections

Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci

Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerous levels across the world, including hospital acquired infections caused by vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). VRE infections have become a serious public health challenge linked with the complexities of antibiotic resistance, resulting in 54,000 cases and 5,000 deaths among hospitalized patients in the United States every year. VRE infections are estimated to cause direct annual U.S. healthcare costs of $539M.

New Biological Entity (NBE)

IBP-1122 is a bacterial strain engineered to eliminate VRE developed by Drs. Nita Salzman, Chris Kristich, and Sushma Kommineni in the Departments of Pediatrics and Microbiology & Immunology at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). Key features of IBP-1122 are to effectively eliminate VRE in the gut, utilizing a narrow antibacterial spectrum ensuring no effect on commensal gut bacteria, via a short-lived colonization to increase safety and enable therapeutic dosing.
 
IBT has an exclusive global license from MCW for the platform consisting of genetically modified bacteria. Leveraging MCW’s commitment to innovative patient care and IBT’s expertise in developing IBP-1122 is a crucial step toward alleviating the pressure placed on hospitals by vancomycin resistant enterococci.

Literature

Disease Description

The rise of the Enterococcus: beyond vancomycin resistance Arias & Murray (2012) 

Studies of the IBP-1122 Bacterial Strain

Bacteriocin production augments niche competition by enterococci in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract Kommineni et al. (2015)