Osta Therapeutics Strengthens Leadership Team with Two Industry Experts Supporting its Goal of Addressing Antibiotic Resistance
Osta Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing smart drugs to fight antibiotic resistance, today announced the appointments of Dr. Gilles Courtemanche as Senior Scientific Advisor and Dr. Nicolas Guyon-Gellin as Chief Business Officer. Both bring substantial experience from the pharmaceutical industry that will support the company on its mission to develop first-in-class antibiotics that target novel mechanisms to overcome the growing issue of antibiotic resistance. By leveraging the company's proprietary OSTA (On-Site-Target-Activated) approach, active pharmaceutical ingredients are delivered to the target and activated by the pathogens themselves. Osta's lead candidate, OSTA27, targets Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAb) infections and is currently in preclinical development.
'We welcome these two seasoned experts to the Osta team. Their valuable experience in drug development and business development will be crucial in further defining our corporate strategy and supporting our efforts to move our lead candidate towards IND-enabling studies, while we continue developing our portfolio with new active ingredients, effective on bacteria responsible for other infectious diseases,' commented Jacques Samarut, Chief Executive Officer of Osta. 'I look forward to working with both of them towards our vision of battling antibiotic resistance.'
Dr. Gilles Courtemanche brings more than 20 years of experience in drug development from positions at Rhône-Poulenc, Sanofi, and Synthelabo. Most recently, he held the position of Associate Director, Antimicrobials Unit Head at Bioaster, where he was responsible for the development of new technologies capable of accelerating the discovery of new antimicrobials. Dr. Courtemanche also leads CDDC, a consultancy that supports biotech companies by refining their scientific and R&D strategy and establishing critical relationships with industry and academic experts. He holds a PhD in chemistry from the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris.
Dr. Nicolas Guyon-Gellin brings more than 18 years of experience in biotech industry and global healthcare financial markets to Osta Therapeutics. Most recently, he has served as Chief Business officer at Calypso Biotech, which was acquired by Novartis in 2024. He also was the VP Corporate Development & Strategy at ENYO Pharma. Prior to that he held multiple roles in equity research analysis at Morgan Stanley London, Exane BNP and Amundi Paris. Dr. Guyon-Gellin holds an M.D. from Université Paris Descartes (Paris V) as well as an MBA from ESCP Business School.
About Osta Therapeutics
Osta is developing smart novel antibiotic molecules to stop the rise of antibiotic resistance. Our proprietary OSTA approach (On-Site-Target-Activated) acts as a triggerable drug delivery system that is activated by the pathogens themselves. It delivers an active pharmaceutical ingredient when and where it is needed to target novel bacterial mechanisms, minimize the development of resistance and to acts locally and specifically on multi-resistant bacteria.
Dr. Nicolas Guyon-Gellin
Chief Business Officer
[email protected] Requests
Trophic Communications
Gretchen Schweitzer or Sara Ortiz
KEYWORD: FRANCE EUROPE
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HEALTH OTHER SCIENCE RESEARCH PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE BIOTECHNOLOGY
SOURCE: Osta Therapeutics
Copyright Business Wire 2025.
PUB: 01/30/2025 05:00 AM/DISC: 01/30/2025 05:00 AM
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fast Company
29-05-2025
- Fast Company
This new antibiotic may finally put a stop to some of the world's most drug-resistant pathogens
'Gram-negative bacteria' pose a huge threat to public health. With deathly adaptability, these types of bacteria are able to develop resistance to many antibiotics and survive in a wide range of conditions. In particular, Acinetobacter baumannii, also known as CRAB, is one of clinical medicine's most antibiotic resistant pathogens, killing hundreds in the U.S. every year with estimated mortality rates ranging from 26.0% to 55.7%. But a new antibiotic from Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche could change the future of how we treat Gram-negative bacteria. Roche announced on Monday that its antibiotic zosurabalpin will enter phase 3, late-stage human trials, by the end of this year or early next year. If successful, the drug will be the first new class of antibiotics targeting Gram-negative bacteria to be developed in over 50 years. What makes Gram-negative bacteria so hard to treat? Antibiotics treat illness by killing bacteria or suspending bacterial growth. But in order to access and attack crucial parts of the bacteria, most antibiotics must first pass through their outer membranes. However, Gram-negative bacteria are distinguished from other forms of bacteria because they are protected by a second outer membrane. These outer membranes are covered in protective molecules called lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which stabilize the membranes and create a barrier to most drugs and antibiotics. This resistance makes Gram-negative bacteria extremely tricky to treat, especially with patients who are already immunocompromised. It causes around a fifth of ICU infections, and most cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia, bloodstream infections related to catheters, and sepsis developed from the ICU. How does zosurabalpin help? Roche collaborated with Harvard researchers to develop a new way to stop Gram-negative bacteria. They found that the key was to inhibit the transportation of LPS molecules, the armor that creates the structure of the bacteria's outer membrane. Zosurabalpin is able to destroy Gram-negative bacteria by jamming LPS molecules inside the bacteria, weakening its membrane. It is the first of its class of antibiotics, and the first new class of antibiotics for Gram-negative bacteria since 1968. 'This antibiotic is important, but it can also serve as a catalysis point for future innovation,' said Michael Lobritz, global head of infectious diseases at Roche, to the Financial Times. 'There are very few [new classes of antibiotics] . . . that have been discovered in the last 15 years. So if you are able to launch a new one, we can build off that for decades to come.' Basel-based Roche has a vast portfolio that includes treatments for cancer, severe eye diseases, and multiple sclerosis. The company reported sales of roughly $68.7 billion in 2024, marking growth of 7% over the previous year on a constant exchange rate basis.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
First new antibiotic in 50 years to tackle superbug
The first new antibiotic in 50 years to tackle a common superbug will be tested on patients. The drug, which targets one of the bacteria considered to pose the biggest threat to human health, has been hailed as an 'exciting' development in the fight against antibiotic resistance. On Monday, Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, announced that it will take zosurabalpin into the third and last phase of testing on humans. It is the first drug in five decades to show promise of tackling Acinetobacter baumannii, a pathogen which is described as a 'priority' by the World Health Organisation and an 'urgent threat' by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US national public health agency. The drug-resistant bacteria disproportionately impact patients who are in the hospital, causing infections such as pneumonia and sepsis. It is estimated that between 40 and 60 per cent of infected patients, many of whom are immunocompromised because of conditions such as cancer, die as a result of the bug. One of the reasons it is so difficult to treat is that it has a double-walled 'membrane' protecting it from attack, so it is difficult to get drugs into it and to keep them in, experts say. Zosurabalpin, which has been developed alongside researchers at Harvard University, targets the 'machine' which stops the outer membrane from forming properly. It works differently to all existing antibiotics and it is hoped that it could lay the foundations for future drugs. Michael Lobritz, global head infectious diseases at Roche, said: 'Our goal is to contribute new innovations to overcome antimicrobial resistance, one of the biggest infectious disease challenges to public health.' The phase-three trial, which it is hoped will start later this year or in early 2026, will look at around 400 patients with a carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter Baumannii (CRAB) infection who will either receive zosuarbalpin or the current standard of care. It is hoped that the drug will be approved by the end of the decade. Larry Tsai, senior vice president and global head of immunology and product development at Genentech, a unit of Roche, said that the drug-resistant bacteria 'are present in every country of the world' . He said that 'the innovative biology involved in this research could potentially reveal new insights into the structure of bacterial membranes, possibly leading to the discovery of new antibiotics in the future'. Pharmaceutical companies, including Roche, have in the past been unwilling to pursue new antibiotics because of a difficult market in which the drugs are used sparingly to try and avoid resistance. However, the UN has warned that if nothing is done to address the issue, drug-resistant diseases could cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050 and cause a worldwide financial crash. Dr Alistair Farley, scientific lead at the Ineos Oxford Institute, has welcomed zosurabalpin as an 'exciting development' for the field. 'There is an urgent unmet clinical need to develop new antibiotics against priority pathogens such as CRAB where antimicrobial resistance is a major concern,' he said. Dr Farley added that it 'may provide a route to the development of new drugs'. Studies showing that it worked 'extremely well' in test-tubes and mice were published in the journal Nature earlier this year. Prof Laura Piddock, scientific director of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, said at the time that it provided 'definite hope' for other hard-to-treat infections. 'What is exciting about this discovery is that one of the building blocks that are part of the outer part of this bacterial cell is disrupted by this new drug,' Prof Piddock said. Antimicrobial resistance was declared by world leaders to be 'one of the most urgent global health threats' at the UN General Assembly earlier this year. The declaration committed members to establish independent panels on antimicrobial resistance, as many have done for climate change, and to reduce deaths linked to resistance by 10 per cent by 2030. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
Surprise Link Between Menthol And Alzheimer's Found in Mice
In recent years, scientists discovered something strange: When mice with Alzheimer's disease inhale menthol, their cognitive abilities improve. It seems the chemical compound can stop some of the damage done to the brain that's usually associated with the disease. In particular, researchers noticed a reduction in the interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β) protein, which helps to regulate the body's inflammatory response – a response that can offer natural protection but one that leads to harm when it's not controlled properly. The team behind the study, published in April 2023, says it shows the potential for particular smells to be used as therapies for Alzheimer's. If we can figure out which odors cause which brain and immune system responses, we can harness them to improve health. Watch the video below to see what the scientists discovered: "We have focussed on the olfactory system's role in the immune and central nervous systems, and we have confirmed that menthol is an immunostimulatory odor in animal models," said immunologist Juan José Lasarte from the Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA) in Spain when the results were released. "But, surprisingly, we observed that short exposures to this substance for six months prevented cognitive decline in the mice with Alzheimer's and, what is most interesting, also improved the cognitive ability of healthy young mice." Having previously observed menthol inhalation boosting the immune response of mice, here the team showed that it could also improve the animals' cognitive abilities, as observed in a series of practical tests in the lab. In mice with Alzheimer's, the course of menthol for a six-month-long period was enough to stop the cognitive abilities and memory capabilities of the mice from deteriorating. In addition, it appears menthol pushed the IL-1β protein back to safe levels in the brain. When researchers artificially reduced the number of T regulatory (Treg) cells – known to help keep the immune system in check – some of the same effects were observed, opening a possible route that future treatments could take. "Both menthol exposure and Treg cell blockade caused a decrease in IL-1β, a protein that could be behind the cognitive decline observed in these models," said neuroscientist Ana Garcia-Osta from CIMA. "In addition, the specific blockade of this protein with a drug used in treating some autoimmune diseases also improved the cognitive capacity of healthy mice and mice with Alzheimer's." Scientists have already established numerous links between smells and our immune and nervous systems. These relationships are difficult to fully understand, but we know that our olfactory system can strongly influence the brain. Certain smells may trigger certain responses in the brain, leading to chemical reactions that affect memory, emotion, and more. Indeed, diseases related to the central nervous system – such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and schizophrenia – often come with a loss of smell. This new research adds some promising data, but plenty more is needed in humans as well as mice. "This study is an important step toward understanding the connection between the immune system, the central nervous system, and smell," said immunologist Noelia Casares from CIMA. "The results suggest that odors and immune modulators may play an important role in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's and other diseases related to the central nervous system." The research was published in Frontiers in Immunology. An earlier version of this article was published in May 2023. Scientists Discover West Nile Virus in The UK For The First Time New Link Connects Herpes to Alzheimer's. Here's What We Know. Mesmerizing Video Shows Cardiac Cells Building a Heart
