MGB Biopharma Adds its Support to European Antibiotic Awareness Day

GLASGOW, Scotland, November 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

MGB Biopharma, one of Europe's leading biopharmaceutical companies developing truly novel anti-infectives, announces its support for the  European Antibiotic Awareness Day  (EAAD) being held today. MGB Biopharma welcomes the initiative as part of wider plans to advance the development of truly novel antimicrobials, as antimicrobial resistance becomes a growing public health concern.

EAAD is a European public initiative set up by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in 2008. It is held annually on 18 November to highlight the responsible use of antibiotics and the risks associated with their improper use. The key objectives of this initiative are to slow the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by:

• Improving the knowledge and understanding of AMR
• Conserving and monitoring the effectiveness of existing treatments
• Stimulating the development of new antibiotics, diagnostics and novel therapies.

MGB Biopharma is playing a key role to advance drug development and has made rapid progress in developing a truly novel class of anti-infectives. The Company's lead candidate MGB-BP-3 is an antibacterial active against a broad range of multi-resistant Gram-positive pathogens. The Company has completed preclinical development of an oral formulation that is ready to enter the clinic for Clostridium difficile. In addition, MGB Biopharma is developing an intravenous formulation of MGB-BP-3 for hospital acquired Gram-positive infections and this is expected to be IND-ready by the end of 2014.

MGB-based anti-infectives have the potential to deliver significant advantages over current approaches including broad, bactericidal activity against multi-resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. The platform also promises to deliver compounds that are active against certain viruses, fungi and parasites. MGB's anti-infectives are based on its minor groove binder (MGB) technology platform.

Miroslav Ravic, CEO of MGB Biopharma, said: "MGB Biopharma is pleased to support EAAD and its objectives. We are keen to continue to foster wide-ranging discussion on the crucial subject of antimicrobial resistance. We intend to play an active role in addressing this important health care problem via our development of truly novel anti-infectives based on our novel platform technology. We have shown promising data with our lead candidate MGB-BP-3, which is ready for clinical development, and look forward to announcing further progress with it in the next few months."  

As part of EAAD, the WHO/Europe will host a live antibiotic Twitter Chat on 18 November at 12-13.30 GMT (13.00-14.30 CET).

To ask questions, please tweet to @WHO_Europe, using the hashtag #EAAD.

If you are unable to join the live chat, leave questions for the experts on WHO/Europe's Facebook page. A summary of the discussions will be available after the chat.

For more information, please visit: http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/antimicrobial-resistance/news/news/2013/11/twitter-chat-ask-experts-questions-on-antibiotic-resistance

Member countries will be running national initiatives to support the prudent use of antibiotics.   In the UK, the Royal College of General Practitioners has developed a web-based toolkit for primary care prescribers. Meanwhile the Department of Health has published a range of materials, including short video clips, on its website to support local EAAD activities. For more information, please visit http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/eaad/Pages/Home.aspx.

About MGB Biopharma

MGB Biopharma is developing a truly novel class of anti-infectives. MGB's lead candidate, MGB-BP-3, is a broad spectrum antibacterial which is active against key multi-resistant Gram positive pathogens. The Company has developed an oral formulation of MGB-BP-3 for Clostridium difficile that is ready to enter the clinic, while an IV formulation for a range of Gram positive infections is in late-stage preclinical development.

MGB's anti-infective drug development capabilities are driven by its broad anti-infective platform, which has the potential to generate truly novel compounds active against other infectious diseases such as Gram negative pathogens as well as parasites and fungi.

MGB's anti-infectives are based on minor groove binders (MGBs). Minor groove binders have a new mode of action that offers significant advantages over existing anti-infectives, such as being more bactericidal and active against a broad range of drug-resistant bacteria.

MGB has close links with the University of Strathclyde, with exclusive worldwide licence rights to Strathclyde's MGB patents for all fields expect anticancer. The Company intends to work with partners to fully capitalize on the multiple value creating opportunities offered by its broad and novel anti-infectives platform.

The Company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is backed by Scotland's investors including Archangel Informal Investment, Barwell, TriCapital and Scottish Co-Investment Fund. For more information please visit http://www.mgb-biopharma.com.

For further information, please contact:

MGB Biopharma
Gavin Clark, Chief Business Officer
gclark@mgb-biopharma.com
+44-(0)7867-504-793

Citigate Dewe Rogerson
David Dible/Sita Shah
sita.shah@citigatedr.co.uk
+44-(0)20-7282-1052