Antibiotics have saved millions of lives since their introduction in the 1940s, and have contributed much to the increase in life expectancy around the world in the past century. Yet drug-resistant pathogens have been on the rise in recent decades. Resistance may be due to exclusion (stopping the drug from entering the bacteria), efflux (pumping the drug out of the bacteria), inactivation of the drug (breakdown or chemical modification), or modification of the cellular target (e.g., point mutations within the active site). Increasingly, infections that were once treatable with antibiotics are becoming difficult or impossible to treat.

Actelion’s research focuses on new targets with proven antibacterial activity and new chemical scaffolds with new mechanisms of action. It aims to combine two pharmacophores – molecular frameworks with biological activity – into one molecule, thus addressing multiple targets in parallel. Actelion believes that this strategy offers the potential benefits of no cross-resistance with established classes, a low propensity to developing resistance, and a broad spectrum.

Characteristics of Actelion's antibiotics:

• Novel chemical classes with new modes of action
• Addressing multiple targets
• Broad coverage of indication-specific spectrums
• No cross-resistance with established classes
• Low propensity to developing resistance
• Bactericidal effect