Frontier IP Group, PLC (LSE:FIPP) Scientific Officer Mathew Upton talked with Proactive about Amprologix’s latest progress in developing Epidermicin NI01, a novel antibiotic aimed at treating resistant skin and other infections. Upton explained that the recent funding will be used to complete preclinical studies for Epidermicin NI01, ensuring the compound’s safety ahead of human clinical trials.
“This money is going to be used to advance our lead technology,” said Upton. “We need to run some final assays to prove that the lead molecule Epidermicin is not toxic before we go into human trials.”
The urgency to develop new classes of antibiotics remains high, with the World Health Organization (WHO) repeatedly identifying a shortage of effective antimicrobials in the pipeline. Epidermicin represents a first-in-class solution that works differently from existing treatments, including those to which many bacteria have developed resistance.
Upton also highlighted the company's broader strategy, including the use of an AI-driven accelerated evolution engine to expand its pipeline. The goal is to generate additional novel drug candidates targeting WHO-prioritised pathogens such as Clostridioides difficile.
Looking ahead, Amprologix is initiating Series A funding to support first-in-human trials and portfolio expansion.
Proactive: Mat, very good to speak with you. Could you start off by telling us what the money is going to be used for?
Mat Upton: Yeah. So this money is going to be used to advance our lead technology. Epidermicin NI01 is an antibiotic that we're developing to treat skin and other infections. Where we are at the moment is the preclinical stage. So we need to run some final assays to prove that the lead molecule Epidermicin is not toxic before we go into human trials. So that's essentially most of what we'll be doing with this money—finalising our preclinical studies.
Proactive: Why is this important, Mat?
Mat Upton: It's important that we find new antibiotics. There is a global need for new antibiotics. The WHO actually runs regular reports looking at antibiotics in clinical and preclinical development. Their most recent report this year summarised that there are not enough antimicrobials in development at the moment for future needs. So WHO says we need new antibiotics. In particular, we need ones that work in different ways—molecules of new classes.
Proactive: What's new and good about Epidermicin, Mat?
Mat Upton: Well, it is of a new class. It's a first-in-class antibiotic. It works in different ways to the current antibiotics that you might take for any bacterial or other infection. The way it works means that the bacteria that we currently see in the clinic, which are resistant to current antibiotics, can be killed with our antibiotic. So it works against resistant organisms and other bacteria. So that's a real plus for us.
Proactive: Can you tell us what's next for Amprologix?
Mat Upton: What's next is to complete this preclinical work and then complete the paperwork required to advance into human clinical trials. We've already initiated the discussions we need for that. But clearly, for human clinical trials, we're going to need further funding. That additional funding is what we're looking at trying to raise now. So we're starting to raise Series A funding.
Proactive: You mentioned Series A funding. What would that be used for?
Mat Upton: That would be used to complete those human clinical trials that we're planning for next year, for skin infection with our lead compound. But we're also expanding our portfolio of drugs. We would like to have more drugs in our portfolio. We already have a number of candidates. The way we're working to expand that portfolio is using an AI-driven accelerated evolution engine. This is a way of generating molecules that are similar to our lead candidate—new drugs that work in different ways.
So we can take those into different clinical uses. We have a whole compound that has activity against Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), the superbug people may have heard about. We're trying to develop a portfolio of new drugs that work against the pathogens WHO has identified as priorities for future research and drug development. A lot of that work would be done with Series A funding.
Proactive: Mathew, I hope you'll keep us updated with your progress. Thank you very much for speaking with us today.