Harnessing bacteriocins for precision therapeutics
Bacteriocins are naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides with highly diverse structures, mechanisms of action and target spectra. This diversity creates significant opportunities for bacteriocin therapeutics and the development of new precision antimicrobial approaches.
Syngulon combines natural bacteriocin diversity, synthetic biology and rational cocktail design to develop bacteriocin-based technologies for therapeutic applications.
Our current focus is the development of natural and engineered bacteriocins and bacteriocin cocktails as precision antimicrobials against bacterial pathogens. Beyond these applications, the properties of bacteriocins may also create future opportunities in areas such as microbiome tuning and oncology.
Syngulon’s bacteriocin-based therapeutic platform
Syngulon develops natural and engineered bacteriocins, including synergistic bacteriocin cocktails, for therapeutic applications.
Our approach exploits the diversity and specificity of bacteriocins to identify molecules active against selected bacterial pathogens and to engineer or combine them when broader activity, improved performance or increased robustness against resistance is required.
Syngulon’s PARAGEN collection of natural and synthetic bacteriocins provides a broad starting point for screening individual bacteriocins and combinations against pathogens of therapeutic interest.
Current focus: precision antimicrobials against bacterial pathogens
Antimicrobial resistance is creating an urgent need for new antibacterial strategies.
Bacteriocins can display potent and highly targeted activity against bacterial pathogens, including strains resistant to conventional antibiotics. Because they can act through mechanisms distinct from traditional antibiotics, they offer opportunities for the development of differentiated antimicrobial treatments.
Syngulon is particularly interested in the development of bacteriocin cocktails combining complementary activities. Such combinations can broaden antimicrobial coverage, exploit different mechanisms of action and potentially increase the barrier to the emergence of resistance.
Key benefits
Targeted antimicrobial activity
Many bacteriocins have relatively narrow activity spectra, creating opportunities to selectively target pathogenic bacteria while reducing unnecessary effects on other microorganisms.
Activity against resistant bacteria
Because bacteriocins can act through mechanisms distinct from conventional antibiotics, they provide opportunities to develop treatments against bacteria displaying antimicrobial resistance.
Bacteriocin cocktails
Combining bacteriocins with complementary mechanisms or target spectra can broaden antimicrobial activity and potentially increase robustness against resistance.
Engineering potential
Synthetic biology enables bacteriocins to be modified to optimize properties such as target spectrum, potency and other characteristics relevant to therapeutic development.
Diverse candidate portfolio
PARAGEN provides natural and synthetic bacteriocins that can be screened individually or in combinations against selected bacterial pathogens.
From screening to therapeutic development
Syngulon combines bacteriocin screening, microbiology and synthetic biology to identify and develop candidates against bacterial pathogens of therapeutic interest.
Development can progress from in vitro activity and bacteriocin-combination studies to mechanism-of-action characterization and preclinical evaluation, working in close collaboration with academic laboratories and industrial partners.
Our objective is to translate the natural diversity and precision of bacteriocins into differentiated antimicrobial technologies.
Syngulon is seeking partners to advance bacteriocin therapeutics in areas where their specificity and antimicrobial activity could provide differentiated therapeutic solutions.
Future partnering opportunities
The biological properties of bacteriocins may create therapeutic opportunities beyond the treatment of bacterial infections. While Syngulon is not currently developing internal programs in microbiome tuning or oncology, we see both areas as interesting opportunities for future research and partnering.
Microbiome tuning
The high specificity of many bacteriocins creates opportunities for precision modulation of microbial communities.
By targeting defined bacterial populations while preserving other members of the microbiome, bacteriocins could potentially provide a more selective approach than broad-spectrum antimicrobial treatments.
This creates opportunities for partners interested in developing strategies to selectively suppress particular microorganisms or reshape microbial communities for therapeutic benefit.
Syngulon’s bacteriocin collection, screening capabilities and expertise in bacteriocin combinations could provide a technology platform for such collaborative programs.
Oncology
Bacteriocins are also attracting scientific interest for their potential applications in oncology. Several bacteriocins have shown anticancer activity in preclinical studies, including effects in cancer cell models and antitumor activity in animal models (cf. Varas et al., 2020 & Baindara et al., 2017).
These applications remain exploratory, and Syngulon is not currently developing an internal oncology program. However, oncology could represent an interesting future opportunity for collaboration with pharmaceutical companies and academic groups interested in exploring bacteriocin-based approaches to cancer research and therapy.
A platform for current and future therapeutic applications
Bacteriocins represent a large and still underexploited source of biological diversity.
Syngulon’s current focus in bacteriocin therapeutics is on precision antimicrobials against bacterial pathogens, combining natural bacteriocins, engineered molecules and rational bacteriocin cocktails.
Beyond these applications, Syngulon is open to exploring microbiome tuning, oncology and other emerging therapeutic opportunities through partnerships combining our bacteriocin platform with complementary disease-area and drug-development expertise.
Our technologies and therapeutic programs are available to pharmaceutical and animal-health partners through licensing and collaborative development.
Learn more in the presentation below
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