in india – superbug central – startups fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria taking out humanity - air purification

Anand Anandkumar's father, a doctor, spent his career fighting infectious diseases in the southern Indian city of Chennai.
It was the infection that killed him.
Due to heart failure, he found a bacteria that was resistant to most antibiotics inside and outside the hospital and died from septic complications.
This story is very common in India, where
Nearly 60,000 newborns die each year from superbacteria.
The rapid spread of drug-resistant bacteria has made India the center of preventing war after the war.
The world of antibiotics, in which thousands of common infections will once again lead to death.
"We are on the front line," Anandkumar said . "
Bengaluru-
Startup works Research, India. Ltd.
A year after his father went to the world, he developed new antibiotics.
"We are building a bullet against the creatures that are destroying humanity.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a battlefield to test it? "The War theater is by his side.
Over the years, poor control of the use of antibiotics by humans and animals, coupled with wastewater from the local pharmaceutical industry turning lakes and streams into resistant breeding grounds, has left India with few weapons to fight infection.
A study of a hospital in South India found that half of the patients had at least one infection during their stay in hospital, of which about 74 showed resistance to multiple drugs.
In the face of this situation, the Indian government has begun to take action to provide early research funding for start-ups such as Bugworks and provide advice and support.
The government has funded a startup incubator shared by Bugworks with 21 other biotech companies.
Last year, Bugworks became the first company in Asia to receive a CARB investment. X, the U. S.
The government's main source of funding to combat superbugs.
"Science is as good as anywhere else," said Ramanan Laxminarayan, professor at Princeton University and director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, which is located in Washington and New Delhi. “On a per-
Based on the dollar, I think the chances of discovering new antibiotics in India are as big or higher as anywhere else.
"In the past few years, governments have begun to take concerted action. In 2015 the U. S.
The initiative against antibiotic-resistant bacteria was launched.
The second year, the US governmentK.
Government-commissioned research institutes have found that about 700,000 people worldwide die from superbacteria each year, and if they do not act, that number could rise to 10 million a year by 2050.
Bugworks's answer is an antibiotic that attacks bacteria at the same time in two ways, rather than a single-target method for traditional drugs, which makes it more difficult for the bacteria to produce resistance.
The drug also avoids the bacteria's own defense system and gives it more time to kill the infection.
Anandkumar said the compound is effective for lung, blood and urinary system infections in animals.
He said it should be ready for human trials in about two years.
India's low research costs and a deep group of biotech graduates mean Bugworks is not alone in stopping the wave of superbacteria.
In the same building, Biomoneta is focusing on an air purification system that kills bacteria in hospitals before they infect patients.
A nearby industrial zone is GangaGen Inc.
Named to commemorate the mother of the founder who was infected and killed.
The startup is working with bacteria.
Eat a virus called devouring to separate proteins that produce super bacteria. killing drugs.
It has developed a drug for the infection of grape and is using the same method to look for more drugs to treat other infections.
The nearby city of Hyderabad and other companies in the capital New Delhi have joined the battle.
"You may be sitting at the center of the problem," said Janani Venkatraman, founder of Biomoneta . ".
"But there are also a lot of people who are trying to solve this problem, which creates a very exciting collaborative ecosystem.
"But turning these ideas into safe, usable drugs requires a lot of money and expertise to be invested in human testing and approval.
That means getting big pharma companies that haven't brought new antibiotics to market for 30 years.
Investing in the treatment of diseases that last a lifetime, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, is better than taking a single drug.
Government regulation of antibiotics is growing and may insist that any new treatment can only be used as a last resort, making antibiotics less economically attractive.
However, the trend is shifting.
More than 80 health-
Care companies including Pfizer
In 2016, Novartis and Glaxo helped fight antibiotic resistance at the World Economic Forum.
The government is rapidly providing subsidies.
Track approval and expansion of patent protection.
Under the leadership of the United States, large pharmaceutical companies are slowly recovering their antibiotic research pipeline. K. -based Glaxo.
Earlier this year, Pfizer announced a project with the Indian Medical Research Council.
At the same time, the struggle revolves around efforts to slow the development of drug resistance by tightening the rule of antibiotic distribution, especially in animal husbandry, where widespread abuse of this drug is one of the biggest reasons for the rise of superbacteria.
One thing that drives India's efforts is the personal experience of so many researchers.
The Bugworks staff told stories of friends in their 40 s who died in hospital with pneumonia or urinary tract infections that lasted for months as an antibiotic after another. T. S.
Gunagen President Balganesh tells the story of the wife of a close friend who went to the hospital for stomach surgery and died of pneumonia within two weeks, or an aunt who went after a week to treat burns and died of infection.
"Friends go to the hospital, don't come back," he said . ".