The Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (iBB) has developed the pharmadendrimers, a new class of antibiotics and antifungals. Researchers from the Centro de Química Estrutural (CQE) and the Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology António Xavier (ITQB-Nova) have also participated in this work.

The pharmadendrimers have been successfully tested on samples of fungi and bacteria collected from Portuguese hospitals and laboratories. These substances have shown “an excellent activity against multi-resistant bacteria and fungi” in vitro and in vivo, explained professor Vasco Bonifácio, researcher at iBB.

These antibiotics act on the bacteria and fungi membranes with less toxicity and lower production cost than the microbial peptides found in nature that have the same mechanism of action. The administration of these drugs, already patented in Portugal, has proved to be safe in the tests performed. The researchers are now working on introducing pharmadendrimers for clinical use.