AVIRU – The applied anti-virulence project

AVIRU is a spin-off project with the goal to develop a new generation of anti-bacterials. The molecules developed here disarm bacterial virulence and do not immediately kill the pathogen. This treatment allows the immune response to step in and finally eradicate the weakened bacteria. Possible advantages of this method is the reduced selective pressure that may delay the development of bacterial resistance as well as the preservation of the useful gut microbiom which is usually killed by classical antibiotics and a cause of unwanted side effects. AVIRU has developed and patented several new compound classes which are currently tested for their effect in vitro as well as in vivo animal models. AVIRU was funded by the EXIST start up program and the Go-Bio initiative by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and has currently the status of a university funded start-up project.