Singapore: Australian infectious disease therapy and vaccine development company BioDiem is developing an antimicrobial compound with broad-spectrum activity named BDM-I.

The compound has demonstrated activity against a wide range of disease-causing microbes such as bacteria, fungi, and parasites and is currently being researched as a treatment against ‘superbugs' or antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi. These organisms are of major concern to international healthcare agencies as the number of available treatments for these infections shrinks.

This year the US signed passed the Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now Act, which authorizes the US FDA to allow an additional five years of marketing exclusivity for antibiotics that treat infections with the potential to pose a serious threat to public health, including antibiotic-resistant infections such as MRSA. This incentive will increase the attractiveness of BDM-I to potential licencees for development in life-threatening infections.

The rise in resistant infections has energised investment in novel antimicrobials. The market for anti-infective, which was valued at $53 billion in 2011, is forecast to exceed $100 billion by 2015. The antifungals market, valued at $9.4 billion in 2010, is estimated to reach $11.3 billion in 2014.