Company: APM
Filing Date: 2025-11-17
Form Type: F-1
Source: 0001213900-25-111548
Chunk: 203

Company: Aptorum Group Ltd
Filing Date: 2025-11-17
Form: F-1
Chunk 203
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SA, caused about 11% of healthcare-associated infections in 2011 (source: http://www.healthcommunities.com/mrsa-infection/incidence.shtml). Each year in the U.S., around one out of every twenty-five hospitalized patients contracts at least one infection in the hospital (N Engl J Med. 2014, 27;370(13):1198-208). In the U.S., there were over 80,000 invasive MRSA infections and 11,285 related deaths in 2011 (source: https://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/28/us/mrsa-fast-facts/index.html). Indeed, severe MRSA infections most commonly occur during or soon after inpatient medical care. More than 290,000 hospitalized patients are infected with Staphylococcus aureus and of these staphylococcal infections, approximately 126,000 are related to MRSA (source: http://www.healthcommunities.com/mrsa-infection/incidence.shtml). ALS-4 is a small drug molecule which appears to target the products produced by bacterial genes that facilitate the successful colonization and survival of the bacterium in the body or that cause damage to the body’s systems. These products of bacterial genes are referred to as “virulence expression.” Targeting bacterial virulence is an alternative approach to antimicrobial therapy that offers promising opportunities to overcome the emergence and increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Professor Richard Kao from The University of Hong Kong (who is also the Founder and Principal Investigator of Acticule and Inventor of ALS-1, ALS-2, ALS-3 and ALS-4) initiated a high throughput approach for screening compounds which are active against virulence expression, which resulted in the discovery of ALS-1, ALS-2, ALS-3 and ALS-4. ALS-4 targets an enzyme essential for Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA) survival in vivo. This enzyme is involved in the production of Staphyloxanthin, a carotenoid pigment produced by Staphylococcus aureus including MRSA, and is responsible for the characteristic golden color. This pigment has proven to be an important factor in promoting bacterial invasion as well as rendering the bacteria resistant to attack from reactive oxygen species (ROS) and neutrophils. In other words, pigmented bacteria have increased resistance to the host’s immune defenses. ALS-4 may have particular value if it can be shown to be an effective therapy in situations where a St