Agility in adversity: Vaccines on Demand.

Is the US ready for a biological attack using Ebola virus or Anthrax? Will vaccine developers be able to produce a Zika virus vaccine, before the epidemic spreads around the world? A recent report by The Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense argues that the US is not ready for these challenges, however, technologies and capabilities that could address these deficiencies are within reach. Vaccine technologies have advanced and readiness has improved in recent years, due to advances in sequencing technology and computational power making the 'vaccines on demand' concept a reality. Building a robust strategy to design effective biodefense vaccines from genome sequences harvested by real-time biosurveillance will benefit from technologies that are being brought to bear on the cancer cure 'moonshot'.

Treatment of Clostridium difficile infection using SQ641, a capuramycin analogue, increases post-treatment survival and improves clinical measures of disease in a murine model.

Objectives: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a primary cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoeal illness. Current therapies are insufficient as relapse rates following antibiotic treatment range from 25% for initial treatment to 60% for treatment of recurrence. In this study, we looked at the efficacy of SQ641 in a murine model of CDI.

Antitubercular Nanocarrier Combination Therapy: Formulation Strategies and in Vitro Efficacy for Rifampicin and SQ641.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health concern, and new therapies are needed to overcome the problems associated with dosing frequency, patient compliance, and drug resistance. To reduce side effects associated with systemic drug distribution and improve drug concentration at the target site, stable therapeutic nanocarriers (NCs) were prepared and evaluated for efficacy in vitro in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected macrophages. Rifampicin (RIF), a current, broad-spectrum antibiotic used in TB therapy, was conjugated by degradable ester bonds to form hydrophobic prodrugs.

Optimization of a nucleic acid-based reporter system to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis antibiotic sensitivity.

We previously reported the development of a prototype antibiotic sensitivity assay to detect drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis using infection by mycobacteriophage to create a novel nucleic acid transcript, a surrogate marker of mycobacterial viability, detected by reverse transcriptase PCR (M. C. Mulvey et al.

Therapeutic efficacy of SQ641-NE against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

A phospholipid-based nanoemulsion formulation of SQ641 (SQ641-NE) was active against intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis in J774A.1 mouse macrophages, although SQ641 by itself was not. Intravenous (i.