A really insightful and sobering article on the process of translating a basic research finding into a therapeutic product DOI, well worth a read and sharing.

By highlighting only the success stories, and using words like "pipeline" are we giving the false impression that there is a direct relationship between scientific discovery and novel drug, and the translation of one into the other is an inevitable and reliable process?

SDRI 2017 is a multi-disciplinary scientific conference for the Asia Pacific region focused on Solutions for Drug Resistant Infections. This inaugural conference theme is New Drugs for Drug-Resistant Infections. The conference will take place at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in Australia from 3 - 5 April, 2017.

The program is expected to attract 400 international participants and will provide a fantastic forum for researchers and industry representatives working in the space of microbiology, virology, parasitology, genomics, pharmacology and medicinal chemistry, to network and discuss new ways to solve the global challenge of drug-resistant infections. Our goal for SDRI 2017 is to lead a concerted discussion to set three priorities and guide research efforts towards global solutions for drug resistance research.

Conference themes:

• Antimicrobial drug discovery
• Improvements to existing anti-infective agents and repurposing
• New Drug Targets
• Alternate therapies
• Navigating the pipeline
• International Models and Funding
• Vector control and vaccines

International keynote speakers confirmed:

• Professor Dame Sally Davies DBE FMedSci FRS, Chief Medical Officer for England
• Professor Ramanan Laxminarayan, Director for Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP), Washington and Vice-President for Research & Policy at Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)

More details and registration

The increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria has highlighted the need to target infections with the correct drug. A recent paper ‘Rapid antibiotic resistance predictions from genome sequence data for S. aureus and M. tuberculosis’, by P Bradley, et al. Nature Communications, 21 December 2015 DOI describes a program to identify species and resistance profiles of clinical isolates.

The Mykrobe predictor is designed for use by microbiologists and doctors, providing information needed in order to choose the best treatment. It analyses the whole genome of a bacterial sample, all within a couple of minutes, and predicts which drugs the infection is resistant to. No expertise is needed to run or interpret it, and it works on a standard desktop or laptop.

Supports Illumina sequencing data as standard. Antibiotics supported: Beta-lactams (methicillin, penicillin), quinolones (ciprofloxacin), macrolides/lincosamides (erythromycin, clindamycin), tetracycline, aminoglycosides (gentamicin), glycopeptides (vancomycin), rifampicin, mupirocin, fusidic acid, trimethoprim.

The software is available for download from the Mykrobe website.