The discovery of penicillin initiated the antibiotic era and saved millions from dying of life-threatening bacterial infections such as tuberculosis, sepsis, and pneumonia. Penicillin kills bacteria by inhibiting synthesis of peptidoglycan, an important structure of the bacterial cell envelope. Still today, antibiotics targeting the bacterial cell envelope are the most widely used antibiotics in the world. Unfortunately, resistance to these superior antibiotics is becoming highly prevalent and antibiotic-resistant bacteria represent one of the greatest threats to human health and development today. In the CLEAR (Cell Envelope Anti-bacterials) training network, world-leading researchers from academia have gathered with clinicians and 4 highly relevant SME partners to train a new generation of excellent European scientists in finding novel solutions for targeting the cell envelope of bacteria, who know how findings in academia generate assets to SMEs, and who could bring novel antimicrobial solutions to the market. The proposed research program builds on unique findings of the project partners that allow us to take up innovative and yet feasible approaches 1) to identify novel targets in the cell envelope and to evaluate the lead structure potential of novel agents acting on the cell envelope, 2) to re-sensitize resistant bacteria to existing cell wall antibiotics, 3) and to explore novel therapies acting via the cell envelope. Impacts of this proposal are the re-use of safe and cheap antibiotics, and the drugs already approved for treatment of other diseases as novel antimicrobials. The training program combines a broad range of scientific disciplines such as molecular biology, biochemistry, structural biology, screening technologies, pre-clinical testing with complementary courses in innovation, market potential and business strategies ensuring that the 10 PhDs will be highly competitive for both top European research institutions and the pharma/biotech job market.

Catheters and implantable medical devices contacting with the bloodstream are sources of internal blood infections and thrombosis. Catheter-related bloodstream infections are one of the major causes of patient morbidity and mortality in intensive care units. Both thrombosis and catheter-related infections are leading to prolonged hospital stay, increased risks of mortality and high costs for healthcare system. Currently there is no coating technology on the market that allows preventing these two complications at once. We developed a new innovative coating technology that enables simultaneous prevention of thrombosis and internal bloodstream infections. This coating is made of layer-by-layer cross-linked nanogels that can be loaded with an antithrombotic and/or antibiotic drug. We found that layer-by-layer assembly of these nanogels controls the amount of releasable bioactive agents from coated-surfaces. Innovation of our technology is linked to the wider space of used nanoreservoirs that can entrap several bioactive molecules thus combining several biological activities in a single coating. In addition, these nanoreservoirs can be deposited as a coating on the surface of any biomaterial or medical device, whether metallic, biological, or polymeric. We have built a consortium that combines the key technical and business experience to bring our innovative coating product to market readiness. CMD-Coat, a young SME, counts with top researchers and specialists in the field of cardiovascular diseases, biologists, chemists and pharmacist. Fresci is a company specializing on the business strategy and innovation management. Together we aim to accelerate the technological development and validation of our Coati-X technology and bring to the market a new bioactive coating solution for implantable medical devices.