The life-saving potential of innovative research underway in Aberdeen will be revealed later today (Mon, September 6) to some of the world’s top microbiologists.
A representative of Haptogen – a University of Aberdeen spin-out biotechnology company – is outlining details of their work to delegates attending the 155th meeting of the Society for General Microbiology (SGM) which is taking place in Dublin.
Dr Ian Broadbent, a senior scientist with Haptogen, will be presenting a paper which will explain how stopping bacteria from communicating with each other could prevent infections and save lives. This is an area which has tremendous potential and possibilities and where Haptogen is breaking new ground.
Dr Broadbent said: “Haptogen’s approach is totally novel, because we’re using human antibodies to target bacterial signalling molecules rather than targeting the bacteria themselves, so we believe that drug resistance is highly unlikely to develop.
“Nobody has been able to develop antibodies to these bacterial signals before, because they’re such tiny molecules, but Haptogen’s technology has managed to overcome these difficulties and now we have a panel of human antibodies that can specifically bind to these targets. The exciting results we’re presenting at the SGM meeting show that we can use these antibodies to reduce the levels of bacterial infection, and demonstrate their excellent potential as safe, deliverable and efficacious antimicrobials.”
The SGM is the largest microbiology society in Europe and has over 5,500 members worldwide. It provides a common meeting ground for scientists working in research and in fields with applications in microbiology including medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmaceuticals, industry, agriculture, food, education and the environment.