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Summit Highlights Discovery of a Series of New Mechanism Antibiotics for the Treatment of Gonorrhoea in Late-Breaking Presentation at ECCMID 2018OXFORD, United Kingdom and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Summit Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:SMMT) (AIM:SUMM) announces it highlighted the discovery of new mechanism antibiotic candidates for the treatment of gonorrhoea in a late-breaking presentation at the 28th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (‘ECCMID 2018’) in Madrid, Spain. Gonorrhoea is an area of high unmet medical need with only one treatment option recommended by the US Centres for Disease Control. It has also been identified as a priority pathogen by the World Health Organisation, cited on a list of bacteria deemed to pose the greatest risk to human health. The pressing need for novel, effective antibiotics for gonorrhoea is driving Summit’s discovery and development efforts around a series of new mechanism antibiotics as potential front-line treatments for this infection. In the data presented, the series was shown to have a number of key characteristics that could drive their front-line use. These include high potency against a range of gonorrhoea strains, including ones that were multi-drug resistant, high selectivity for gonorrhoea which minimizes collateral damage to the microbiome, a low potential for resistance development, and suitability for oral administration. Summit intends to select a candidate to enter IND enabling studies in the second half of 2018. “Our strategy to tackle difficult to treat bacterial infections, such as gonorrhoea, is clear: to develop new mechanism antibiotics that are genuinely innovative treatment options with the potential to replace existing standards of care,” said Dr David Roblin, President of R&D of Summit. “We are encouraged by the profile of the series of gonorrhoea antibiotic candidates developed using our proprietary genetics-based discovery platform, and we look forward to selecting a preclinical candidate in the second half of this year.” The presentation was authored by Elena B.M. Breidenstein, Tim Avis, Nawaz Khan, Paul Meo and Clive S. Mason of Summit. The series of new mechanism antibiotic compounds was identified using Summit’s bacterial genetics-based discovery and development platform. The platform enables the development of new mechanism antibiotics and an early assessment of the resistance liabilities, which allows for the prioritisation of the best compounds for optimisation and clinical development. A copy of the presentation is available in the Publications section of Summit’s website, www.summitplc.com. About Gonorrhoea About Summit’s Genetics-Based Discovery and Development Platform About Summit Therapeutics Contacts
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