GARDP and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation announce
partnership in search for new antibiotics
GENEVA AND OSAKA, 24 November 2022 – The Global Antibiotic Research andDevelopment Partnership (GARDP) and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC)
have signed an agreement for GARDP to access over 50,000 compounds from MTPC’s
compound library. The set of compounds will be tested by the Institut Pasteur Korea in an
optimized high throughput screen with the aim of discovering novel compounds with
antibacterial activity against drug-resistant bacteria. This agreement supports GARDP’sefforts to tackle serious bacterial infections by developing antibiotics while endeavouring toensure their sustainable access.
With few antibiotics in development, antimicrobial resistance is a rapidly growing global healththreat. Nearly 1.3 million people die of drug-resistant infections every year. Serious bacterial
infections, and especially those caused by Gram-negative bacteria, have been identified by
the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global public health priority.
The compounds to be provided by MTPC will be tested against bacteria identified as a criticalpriority for research and development of new antibiotics in WHO’s global priority pathogens
list. Through this screening, GARDP and MTPC seek to identify novel compounds active
against novel bacterial targets that could form the basis of new drugs.
“It is a privilege to have access to MTPC's compound library, which has never been screened
for antibacterial activity,” said Laura Piddock, Scientific Director, GARDP. “Now that we'vebeen able to establish our high throughput screen with Institut Pasteur Korea, we are wellpositioned to screen libraries like that of MTPC, and we welcome the opportunity to screen
libraries as they become available to us.”
“Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation acts in accordance with our mission, ‘Creating hopefor all facing illness.’ A key value in our work is access to healthcare, to which we contributeby providing our own unique compounds to be screened for research of malaria, tuberculosis
and neglected tropical diseases (Chagas disease and leishmaniasis), as well as by carryingout collaborative research on hit compounds identified during the screening. It is a greathonour for us to have another opportunity to contribute to global health through thiscollaboration with GARDP,” stated Masao Nawano, Head of Sohyaku, Innovative ResearchDivision, MTPC.

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About GARDPThe Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) is a not-for-profit
organization based in Switzerland developing new treatments for drug-resistant infections
that pose the greatest threat to health. GARDP was created by the World HealthOrganization (WHO) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) in 2016 andlegally founded in 2018 to ensure that everyone who needs antibiotics receives effective andaffordable treatment, no matter where they live. It aims to develop new treatments to fightdrug-resistant infections, with a focus on serious bacterial infections in hospitalized adults
and children, sepsis in newborns, and sexually transmitted infections. GARDP is funded by
the governments of Australia, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, SouthAfrica, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the Canton of Geneva, as well as Médecins Sans
Frontières, Wellcome and other private foundations. GARDP is registered under the legalname GARDP Foundation. www.gardp.org
About Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC), the pharma arm of Mitsubishi ChemicalGroup (MCG), is one of the oldest pharmaceutical companies in the world, founded in 1678,and focusing on ethical pharmaceuticals. MTPC is headquartered in Doshomachi, Osaka, thebirthplace of Japan’s pharmaceutical industry. MCG has positioned health care as its strategic
focus in its management policy, “Forging the future.” MTPC sets the MISSION of “Creating
hope for all facing illness.” To that end, MTPC is prioritizing work on “precision medicine” toprovide drugs with high treatment satisfaction by identifying patient populations with highpotential for efficacy and safety, focusing on the disease areas of central nervous system andimmuno-inflammation. In addition, MTPC is working to develop “around the pill solutions” toaddress specific patient concerns based on therapeutic medicine, including prevention ofdiseases, pre-symptomatic disease care, prevention of aggravation and prognosis. For more
information, go to https://www.mt-pharma.co.jp/e/About Institut Pasteur Korea
Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) is a non-profit research institute established in 2004 as part ofthe scientific cooperation between the Rep. of Korea and France, focusing on infectious
diseases. Utilizing its core research capabilities, cell- and image-based screening platforms,
to understand disease mechanisms and accelerate the development of new treatments, IPK
contributes to addressing unmet global health issues, including emerging infectious diseases
such as COVID-19, MERS, and Zika fever, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, antibiotic resistance,cancer, and neglected diseases. By providing fundamental technologies to bridge Korean
and international bio-pharma science and promote multi-disciplinary projects globally, IPK
stands at the forefront of drug discovery research contributing to Korea's scientific,
intellectual, and technical resources and global infectious disease preparedness andresponse. IPK is a pivotal member in the Asia-Pacific Region of the Pasteur Network,
consisting of 33 members located in 25 countries, driving early drug discovery.
www.ip-korea.org

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