THERAPEUTIC OPPORTUNITIES IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SOCIETY OF MEDICINES RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM, HELD ON MARCH 14TH 2013 AT THE NATIONAL HEART & LUNG INSTITUTE, LONDON, UK

Microbial resistance to chemotherapeutic agents is not a new development: the first lactam hydrolyzing enzyme was identified before penicillins were even introduced into the clinic. Extended-spectrum resistance to the major classes of chemotherapeutic agents is now common across many microorganisms, particularly pathogenic bacteria, and due in part to over-and misuse of antibiotics over the last 50 years. Global travel and greater social interaction has facilitated rapid transmission of infectious diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis (TB), human immuno deficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), resulting in an international agenda for addressing the lack of prevention and treatment options for these diseases. This symposium brought together international experts from the pharmaceutical industry and academia to review the need for new antiinfective agents, present the latest therapeutic developments, and to discuss the challenges to be overcome in the discovery and clinical development of novel antiinfective agents and the development of new vaccines. Topics included novel approaches to small-molecule discovery and development for the treatment of TB, HCV and HIV, review of the vaccine approaches to meningitis and malaria, and presentation of the new vaccines in clinical trials for their prevention.