AN2 Therapeutics said the Gates Foundation has extended funding for its research under an ongoing collaboration with GSK to develop potential tuberculosis treatments.
The collaboration focuses on boron-based inhibitors of leucyl-tRNA synthetase, or LeuRS, an enzyme involved in protein production. AN2 is using its boron chemistry platform to identify small molecules that inhibit the target. The company did not disclose the amount or duration of the funding extension.
Tuberculosis remains a major cause of infectious-disease deaths worldwide. AN2 and GSK are pursuing the research as part of efforts to develop additional treatment options for the disease.
The companies have not identified a drug candidate emerging from this collaboration or provided a timetable for clinical development. The funding extension supports continued research rather than a newly announced clinical trial.
LeuRS is also the target of other medicines and investigational compounds cited by AN2. Those include ganfeborole, which showed proof-of-concept efficacy in a Phase 2 tuberculosis study; epetraborole, in development for Mycobacterium abscessus lung disease; and tavaborole, an approved antifungal treatment.
AN2 described LeuRS as a clinically validated drug target. Its research program with GSK seeks to use boron chemistry to develop inhibitors directed at the enzyme for tuberculosis.
Vince Hernandez, AN2’s senior vice president of research and head of chemistry, said the extended funding would support the companies’ ongoing work. GSK Chief Global Health Officer Harmony Garges said GSK would continue the collaboration with AN2.
The announcement did not report new efficacy or safety data for compounds from the joint research program. AN2 is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company based in Menlo Park, California, focused on small-molecule therapeutics developed through its boron chemistry platform.
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