The Science

For over 100 years, small molecule antibiotics drastically changed the trajectory of modern medicine, which helped extend the average human lifespan by 23 years¹. Due to the overuse of these antibiotics and the adaptability of bacteria, AMR is becoming more common, especially in clinical settings². To combat the rise of AMR, pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions search for new antibiotics largely by identifying novel naturally-derived compounds or by chemically transforming older antibiotics³. In turn, bacteria adapt and generate resistance genes, then share them among similar bacteria or other species. This is a cycle that plagues the antibiotic community and new approaches and resources are required to resolve this AMR impasse.

To answer the need for novel antimicrobial therapies, Erinyes Therapeutics employs mammalian antibacterial proteins to suppress AMR in vitro and to limit bacterial infections in vivo. Mammalian antibacterial proteins represent a unique class of antibiotics whose purpose is philosophically distinct from small molecule antibiotics. Small molecule antibiotics are derived from microbes and synthesized to target specific features on other microbes to gain competitive advantages for nutrients and sustaining ecological niches⁴. In contrast, mammalian antibacterial proteins exist to remove bacteria that colonize barrier sites and in blood⁵. Importantly, microbes that develop AMR against mammalian antibacterial proteins result in a loss of viability for the mutated microbe^6-7. Our initial efforts are focused on original discoveries of mammalian antibacterial proteins found at barrier sites and human blood.