Programme screened 40,000 natural compounds, yielding about 100 potential hits with with high bioactivity, and 27 compounds also showed activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), two million people die from tuberculosis each year.
Despite progress in wiping out TB in other areas of the world, WHO recently rated the rate of the disease in Africa as having reached alarming proportions with a growing number of TB cases and deaths linked to HIV.
Quantum Pharmaceuticals reports that its project on tuberculosis has yielded some strong hits and some surprising observations on the target, FtsZ (a cell division protein), as well as on some supposed ligands.
An article on these discoveries will be published in the near future, it says.
Quantum Pharmaceuticals screened 40,000 natural compounds yielding about 100 potential hits with with high bioactivity.
This screening included the latest feature of Quantum Pharmaceuticals's technology - protein flexibility, which it says is unique in the industry and crucial to obtaining accurate results.
60 compounds were tested against Mycobacterium smegmatis culture, and two best hits with IC50 0.17mg/l (0.3mkmol/l) and about ten one fold higher were found.
In total, 27 compounds also also showed activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis culture.
This experiment yet again underlines the great accuracy and potential of Quantum Pharmaceuticals technology, the company claims.
In-vivo testing is planned for June 2005 at the Central Institute of Tuberculosis in Moscow.
The project is expected to result in novel drug candidates against MDR (multi drug resistant) tuberculosis, it says.
