Background to ß-lactamase inhibitor programme 

ß-lactamase inhibitor compounds have been exceptionally successful over the last twenty years.  Augmentin® (GlaxoSmithKline), which is a mixture of clavulanic acid and amoxicillin, launched in 1981, had sales in 2001 of $2.05 billion.  Tazocin® (Wyeth), a mixture of tazobactam and piperacillin had sales of $427 million in 2001.  These first generation ß-lactamase inhibitors are narrow spectrum. They are very effective against the older class A enzymes but poor against the increasingly prevalent class C enzymes. The compounds Amura is developing have broad-spectrum ß-lactamase inhibitory activity as well as intrinsic anti-bacterial activity. As such they fulfil an urgent and increasingly important need in the fight against emerging resistant bacteria.