Patent evaluation of WO2019209182 (A1) 2019-10-31 (Conjugated Oligoelectrolytes as Antimicrobial Agents).
INTRODUCTION
The insurgence of antibiotic resistance represents one of the biggest public health challenges of our times. During the years, different compounds were developed to fight against resistant bacterial cells, exploiting different mechanisms of action.


AREAS COVERED
The patent application describes a set of antimicrobial compounds bearing to the class of the conjugated oligoelectrolytes (COEs). These are molecules characterized by hydrophobic conjugated backbone and terminal polar ionic pendants, able to intercalate into lipid bilayers of bacterial cells. The patent reports the preparation of 15 new compounds and the evaluation of their antimicrobial effect against ESKAPE pathogens (  nterococcus faecium, .).


EXPERT OPINION
The preparation of the compounds claimed is simple and the preliminary activity data are very interesting. Among the claimed compounds, COE-D8, COE-T42, and COE-T62 have the ability to strongly inhibit the bacterial growth at doses similar to the ones of last resource antibiotics. Unfortunately, no in-vivo data are reported. Moreover, the presence of several quaternary amines limits the potential application of these compounds only to topical uses.
['Milite|Ciro|C|https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1000-1376']
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents D001419:Bacteria D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial D004573:Electrolytes D006801:Humans D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions D010330:Patents as Topic
conjugated oligoelectrolytes Antibiotic resistance ESKAPE pathogens microbial membranes