Achaogen is dedicated to addressing serious medical needs caused by the development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.
Before the 1930s, even minor infections — strep throat, for example — were sometimes life-threatening. The introduction of antibiotics changed that. Drugs like penicillin dramatically increased the length and quality of human life, and decreased the complications associated with practices such as surgery.
Over time, however, bacteria continue to evolve, building defense mechanisms to existing antibacterial therapies that limit their effectiveness. In hospital, healthcare and community settings, the continued and unchecked emergence of drug-resistant bacteria is becoming an increasingly significant threat to human health.
According to the CDC, over 70% of hospital bacterial infections are resistant to one or more classes of antibacterial drugs. In the United States alone, these infections cause more than 90,000 deaths per year and result in $4.5 billion in excess healthcare costs. Globally, the World Health Organization reports that hospital infections affect hundreds of millions of patients worldwide each year, with more than 1.4 million people becoming seriously ill or dying from such infections.
Achaogen exists to apply its anticipatory science to the creation of novel medical therapies to combat tomorrow’s drug-resistant pathogens, specifically, the next generation of pan-resistant bacteria, including infections caused by Gram-negative pathogens and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). This scientific strategy represents a novel approach to addressing the global bacterial-resistance crisis.
Neoglycosides: Proprietary, next-generation aminoglycosides.
Neoglycosides are next-generation aminoglycoside antibiotics being developed by Achaogen for the treatment of multi-drug resistant gram-negative bacterial infections. Aminoglycosides inhibit bacterial protein synthesis and have been used clinically to treat serious bacterial infections.
Our designation for these next-generation aminoglycosides, neoglycosides, reflects their lineage and conveys their novelty. The prefix 'neo' means 'a new form’ and, indeed, these agents are able to overcome known aminoglycoside resistance mechanisms.