Conference Reports
47th ICAAC
Chicago IL 17th-20th September, 2007.
In the humid autumn of Chicago, McCormick Place was invaded once again by the vast number of delegates, researchers and media attending the 47th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Last held in Chicago back in 2003, the conference made a welcome return to the lakeside centre, with a deluge of poster sessions, exhibits and symposia to fascinate those with an interest in the subject. There was no specific focus of the conference, which included presentations ranging from fungicides, antimalarials and antibiotics to disease evolution, detection and diagnostics. With such an extensive conference schedule, and parallel symposia dominating the week’s activities, the abundance of scientists seemed spoiled for choice as to what to attend.
Notable presentations included an oral session discussing the recommendation of antiviral prophylaxis in multiple myeloma patients due to be treated with bortezomib. This came from the observation of reactivation of Varicella zoster and Herpes simplex viruses in 35% of patients tested post-treatment. A further presentation covered the use of low-dose wheat germ histones as broad spectrum antimicrobials in both Gram positive and negative bacteria. The histones proved effective as antimicrobials, whilst also demonstrating temperature resistance without loss of activity. A division of the National Institutes of Health also gave an interesting presentationinto the potential hallucinogenic effect of voriconazole treatment, stating that this side-effect was not uncommon in patients with haematological malignancies being treated with the drug for severe aspergillosis infection.Sunday evening saw the first of the poster sessions for the week, offering food, drinks and a bustling environment for enthusiastic chemists to peruse the reports of the chemical expertise of their peers. The hall buzzed with the fast pace of the session, as delegates reviewed the plentiful scientific prospects on show, networking with colleagues and gaining and sharing industry knowledge. Interesting posters included that from Bristol- Myers Squibb, reporting on the structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies that led to the discovery of BMS-711939, a highly selective PPAR-α agonist derived from muraglitazar, for the treatment of coronary artery disease. It demonstrated excellent in vivo profiles and good pharmacokinetics in preclinical species. Amgen presented a poster detailing the SAR of its vanilloid-1 receptor antagonists for the treatment of pain, revealing the chemical structure of the lead compound. It demonstrated a good pharmacokinetic profile in Sprague Dawley rats and had improved solubility when compared to Amgen’s Phase I compound AMG-517. Other interesting posters included Adolor’s, which detailed the SAR of two chemically-distinct series of iNOS inhibitors, under development for the treatment of neuropathic and inflammatory pain.
In keeping with previous years, many companies were also represented within the exhibition, with a mass of free gifts available. The most popular, by far, was one that encompassed everything: a fun quiz, friendly staff and the added bonus of getting a slice of original Chicago- style pizza. Queues for this exhibit were always pretty busy, showing that the love of free food attracts even the most esteemed of attendees!
The poster summary session proved an excellent opportunity for companies and universities alike to reveal new innovations in their therapy areas of interest. Several drugs were featured as new, up-and-coming therapies. The first of these was RTA-3, under development by Bristol and Cardiff Universities in the UK, for the treatment of Pseudomonas infections. Isolated from Streptococcus mitis in cystic fibrosis patients, it is non-toxic with a highly cidal and effective, non-immunogenic activity and was protective in a peritonitis model at only 20mg/kg. It also showed no cross resistance and was effectively distributed within tissues with a broad spectrum of use. The next product to be featured was AR- 2474, another broad spectrum product from Arpida. This product, which is part of a series, was active in a number of single and multi drug resistant infection showed no antagonistic effects towards other antimicrobials. It is effective against many Gram positive and negative microbes as well as anaerobes and produced a post-antibiotic effect of up to 4 hours. CP-3242 from Meiji Seika was also presented, with trials in combination with imipenem and biapenem producing a marked increase in responses. CP-3242 works by enhancing the effect if other antibiotics, but has no antibiotic efficacy alone.
Other featured products in this session included Toyama’s T-2307, which has been shown to be a potent parenteral antifungal with a good activity in Candida sp, and Cumbre Pharma’s RNA polymerase and DNA gyrase/toposimerase IV inhibitor, which is potent in Gram positive infection models. A new specialist form of viral vectors known as SASPject was also presented, with trials in Escherichia coli, Clostridium difficile and various forms of Staphyloccocus aureus, including MRSA and VISA, giving rapid activity and the potential for broad spectrum coverage.Wednesday evening’s extensive, multidisciplinary poster session provided a comprehensive end to a busy day’s schedule, marking the end to the conference’s poster sessions. Among the delegates, who casually enjoyed a glass of wine or a beer, an abundance of new scientific research was once again on display. Of interest, Merck and Amgen presented the chemical structure and preclinical data for their series of bradykinin B1 receptor antagonists, developed as analgesics, and chemokine receptor CXCR3 antagonists, respectively. Additionally, Medarex presented the structure and favourable preclinical results for its cancer treatment MED-2338.
Adding to the comprehensive schedule were a series of satellite symposia, discussing a wide range of interesting issues within the fields of HIV, MRSA, cytomegalovirus, influenza, pneumonia and candidaemia, often attracting large numbers of eager delegates. The highlyanticipated Sanofi Aventis US Award Lecture also featured in the busy scedule, and once again drew a substantial crowd. This year it honoured Dr T E Wellems, for his work on “Chloroquine-Resistant Malaria: Genetic Origins and Prospects for its Control”.
Once again, this year's ICAAC was a thriving success, with plentiful sessions of interest for delegates spanning all areas of infectious disease. ICAAC is already one of the biggest events in conference calendars, but with news that it is joining forces with the Infectious Diseases Society of America to produce their first combined conference, next year's looks set to be even bigger.
The 48th ICAAC combined with the 46th IDSA will be held in Washington, DC, USA, 15th - 28th October 2008.
Rebecca Bridges
Pharmaprojects Analyst
