Topic: Academic Discovery of Novel Antimicrobials: What are Still Missing?

Speaker: Prof. Jian LI

Time: 16:00-17:30 PM, 24 Oct., 2025

Venue: Lecture hall 111, Library

Abstract:

Antimicrobial resistance has become a major global health challenge. The Gram-negative ‘superbugs’ Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae can develop resistant to all currently available antibiotics. They have been identified as the top-priority pathogens by the World Health Organization. Polymyxins have been increasingly used as a last-line therapy against these problematic Gram-negative pathogens. However, their effective use in patients has been severely hampered by dose-limiting nephrotoxicity, acute neurotoxicity, poor lung exposure, binding to lung surfactant, and poor activity against pneumonia. It is very challenging to structurally decouple the efficacy from toxicity for the polymyxins due to the interplay of their structure-activity-toxicity-pharmacokinetics relationships. This is evident from the fact that no new polymyxin drugs have been approved since the 1960s. Here, I will present an overview of our team’s discovery of a novel lipopeptide antibiotic, BRII693 (QPX9003), which is underpinned by two decades of integrated pharmacological and clinical research. Our drug discovery program exemplifies how international academic–industry collaborations can be successfully executed to deliver innovations with significant real-world impact on global health.

Brief introduction of the speaker:

Professor Jian Li is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, and the American Academy of Microbiology. Dr Li has an internationally recognized track record in antimicrobial pharmacology and drug discovery. Prof Li’s research led to the first scientifically-based dosing recommendations for polymyxins, which has improved clinical practice worldwide. Notably, his group has developed a novel lipopeptide drug (BRII-693 [QPX9003]) from concept to clinical trials. Prof Li has 474 publications with 37,326 citations and an h-index of 94, and is a Clarivate® Highly Cited Researcher in pharmacology & toxicology (2015-2017, 2022, 2024). Prof Li is President of the International Society of Anti-Infective Pharmacology (2022-2024) and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. Jian is an invited reviewer for >200 international journals and 34 international funding bodies (e.g. NIH, Wellcome, New Cornerstone). Prof Li has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Jacques Miller Medal for Experimental Biomedicine by the Australian Academy of Science (2017).