CDI (Clostridioides difficile) infection is a leading cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea with significant morbidity and mortality, and with the rise of hypervirulent and resistant strains, novel and selective antibiotics to treat these infections are needed. Cadazolid, a hybrid antibiotic that combines pharmacophores of two classes of antibacterials, demonstrated potent activity in vitro against relevant C. difficile strains, while avoiding native gut flora. Additionally, the compound was designed to be gut-restricted, with minimal systemic circulation following PO dosing.

INE963 (Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases) is an oral, single dose, fast-acting blood-stage antimalarial candidate . The molecule was identified using a phenotypic high-throughput screening approach which has been successfully used to identify new antimalarial chemotypes . Phenotypic screens can be preferable to target-based [...]

LXE408 is an oral antileishmanarial compound that selectively targets the kinetoplastid proteosome vs. the mammalian proteosome. The prior candidate, GNF6702, had solubility-limited oral absorption, which could have been addressed with a specialized formulation but would have increased the cost and limited use in developing countries. A [...]

Despite the remarkable emergence of HAART in the 1990s, the fight against HIV infection is by no means finished. At the ACS Fall 2024 meeting in Denver, CO, Gilead Sciences presented the structure and discovery story of elunonavir (GS-1156), a novel HIV protease inhibitor with remarkable metabolic stability and a human half-life exceeding two weeks. Based on BMS’ atazanavir, the compound incorporates structural elements inspired by Gilead’s HCV NS5A inhibitor program which led to ledipasvir, as “stabilizer” motifs to avoid the extensive CYP metabolism seen in current inhibitors.

MK-5204 is a broad spectrum Candida antifungal agent derived from the natural product, enfumafungin. I was impressed that the molecule not only demonstrates oral efficacy but also has good oral PK in higher species (dog, cyno), given that the molecule is a large zwitterion with several very polar groups, including a primary amide, primary [...]