Improving treatment of mycobacterial infections

The main focus of the Mycobacterial Research Group is improving the treatment of mycobacterial infections including tuberculosis and infections with nontuberculous mycobacteria. To this aim we assess the activity and efficacy of different novel antimycobacterial drugs and drug regimens using a combination of different preclinical models including the in vitro time-kill kinetics assay and hollow fiber infection model, the ex vivo intracellular infection model as well as the murine tuberculosis model. By combining the results of these different assays we aim to improve the predictive value of preclinical antimycobacterial drug evaluation.

• Omadacycline as a promising new agent for the treatment of infections with Mycobacterium abscessus
• Assessment of the Additional Value of Verapamil to a Moxifloxacin and Linezolid Combination Regimen in a Murine Tuberculosis Model
• Improving treatment outcome assessment in a mouse tuberculosis model
• A multicentre verification study of the QuantiFERON^®-TB Gold Plus assay
• Assessment of Bactericidal Drug Activity and Treatment Outcome in a Mouse Tuberculosis Model Using a Clinical Beijing Strain
• The role of the time-kill kinetics assay as part of a preclinical modeling framework for assessing the activity of anti-tuberculosis drugs
• Activity of moxifloxacin and linezolid against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in combination with potentiator drugs verapamil, timcodar, colistin and SQ109
• Immunotherapy Added to Antibiotic Treatment Reduces Relapse of Disease in a Mouse Model of Tuberculosis
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Collaborations within Erasmus MC:

• Department of Immunology
• Department of Pulmonology
• Department of Dermatology

Collaborations outside of Erasmus MC:

• Global Alliance for TB Drug Development
  Preclinical drug development team
  New York, USA
• Uppsala University
  Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences
  Uppsala, Sweden
• Amsterdam UMC
  Medical Microbiology & Infection Control
  Amsterdam, the Netherlands
• University of Sussex
  Brighton and Sussex Medical School
  Brighton, UK
• University Medical Centre Groningen
  Department of Pulmonology
  Groningen, the Netherlands
• University of Liverpool
  Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
  Liverpool, UK

• Netherlands Antibiotic Development Platform (NADP)
  Lead development Voucher
  Double Trouble for TB
• Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking programme
  EU Patient-cEntric clinical tRial pLatforms (EU-PEARL)
• TB Alliance
  Preclinical drug efficacy studies