Unlocking the future of medicine

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D) has proudly launched the Centre for Translational AMR Research (CTAR) Programme, backed by a substantial £5 million investment from LifeArc. This strategic partnership aims to combat the escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), particularly focusing on multidrug-resistant (MDR) gram-negative bacteria such as Acinetobacter baumannii.

Both Professor Kelly Chibale, the director of H3D; and Dr Dave Powell, the chief scientific officer at LifeArc, delivered opening addresses for the launch on 3 December, highlighting the innovative approaches being taken to tackle AMR. They also emphasised the importance of strengthening local research capacity in Africa through knowledge exchange and collaborative efforts.

This was followed by a keynote presentation by Dr Ghada Zoubiane from the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS), titled “AMR Innovation Uptake – Partnering for Impact”. Richard Alm, the chief scientific officer at Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB-X), also delivered a keynote presentation, titled “The AMR Burden and Need for New Antibiotics”.

“The correct pronunciation of the programme is STAR, not C-TAR, and we are thrilled to partner with LifeArc in this crucial endeavour.”

Dr Zoubiane and Dr Alm joined Dr Sandeep Ghorpade (H3D) and Dr Ed McIver, the scientific director at LifeArc, for a panel discussion, “The Significance and Potential Impact of CTAR”, where Dr McIver commented: “A key output for LifeArc is to ensure CTAR delivers at least one preclinical candidate within five years; this is what success would look like to me.”

During the closing remarks, Professor Chibale said, “The correct pronunciation of the programme is STAR, not C-TAR, and we are thrilled to partner with LifeArc in this crucial endeavour. This partnership stresses the importance of international collaborations in tackling pressing global health issues such as AMR.”

The investment from LifeArc will contribute to the sustainability of H3D, which is a soft-funded research entity. UCT will aim to achieve the following:

• preclinical discovery of precision antibiotics
• strengthening AMR research capacity at H3D and training the next generation of scientists
• contribute to a foundational model of sustainable creation of an absorptive capacity to attract, develop, nurture and retain talent on the African continent through job creation
• With H3D being a platform, CTAR represents an anchor point for new (research and funding) partnerships and models.