LiveLeaf, a life sciences company pioneering the use of biologic plant immunity to combat antibiotic resistant bacterial infection, announced a collaboration with CRO Emery Pharma. The alliance will advance LiveLeaf’s development of novel pro-drugs for FDA approval through LiveLeaf’s recently formed pharmaceutical subsidiary, Quellthera.

“The increasing incidence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics is becoming a worldwide crisis. Quellthera is pursuing the development of proprietary plant-based anti infectives with unique mechanisms that can inhibit bacteria without contributing to further antibiotic resistance,” said Edward Schnipper, chief medical officer, Quellthera.

According to Alex Huang, founder and CEO of LiveLeaf, “Evolution has given many plants a means to coexist with potentially harmful bacteria. LiveLeaf has commercially harnessed this biochemistry to safely quell pathogen attack while protecting the balance of human gut microflora. We look forward to leveraging Emery Pharma’s unique microbiology, product development, and analytical capabilities in advancing this as a new drug paradigm.”

“More than ever, we are in need of new approaches in dealing with multidrug resistant pathogens. Emery Pharma has the largest collection of ESKAPE pathogens for rapid drug screening in the U.S. and eager to support LiveLeaf in their development goals,” said Ron Najafi, Ph.D., CEO of Emery Pharma.