David Perlin, chief scientific officer of the Hackensack Meridian CDI, speaks to a member of his lab. Credit: Hackensack Meridian Health

Infecting more than 82 million people annually worldwide, and becoming resistant to even “last-line” antibiotics, Neisseria gonorrhoeae is considered a priority pathogen on the World Health Organisation’s global list.

“There is now a high prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae strains that are resistant to common antimicrobial classes used for treatment including sulfonamides, penicillins, cephalosporins, tetracyclines, macrolides, and fluoroquinolones. Therapeutic failures with the extended-spectrum cephalosporins, such as cefixime and ceftriaxone, have created a major health crisis,” reads a new paper from scientists working on a new solution.

A team at the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) has debuted a new preclinical drug candidate—JSF-2659—that shows promise in eradicating the bacteria that causes gonorrhea.

The parent compound, JSF-2414, works simultaneously on two molecular targets, making it extra effective at inhibiting the bacteria’s DNA replication, according to a new paper published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chromatography.

The dual-targeting strategy means that more bacteria are wiped out—and the lack of survivors and very low probability of modifying two cellular targets during therapy means less chance for the rise of drug resistance.

While the compound was effective on 96 separate strains of gonorrhea bacteria, the researchers say it has broader implications.

“This compound shows great promise, and is addressing an emerging health threat head-on,” said David Perlin, chief scientific officer and senior vice president of the CDI. “We need more drugs, and better drugs. This molecular strategy could also very well have promise for pathogens beyond this one species of bacteria, as well.”

According to the paper, JSF-2659 also showed effectiveness in other worrisome Gram-positive germs, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus epidermidis, Enterococcus faecium, Clostridium difficile, and other species.

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