Qnovia has secured a worldwide exclusive licence to a new antimicrobial peptide developed at the University of Virginia, marking its move into a second therapeutic area alongside its smoking cessation programme.
The peptide, known as D8, uses a mechanism distinct from conventional antibiotics and has shown activity against multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens and biodefence threat agents. Early laboratory and animal testing indicates potential across respiratory, bloodstream, skin and soft‑tissue infections.
Mario Danek, founder and CEO of Qnovia, said: “Drug-resistant bacteria represent one of the fastest-growing threats in global medicine, with antibiotic resistance already contributing to millions of deaths worldwide and impacting everything from routine surgeries to cancer treatment to intensive care.
“What separates this peptide from existing antibiotics is that it doesn’t allow bacteria to evolve and adapt – it works through a mechanism that’s fundamentally different. That’s the kind of tool we need for a problem at this scale.”
Qnovia has worked with the Hughes‑Crawford research group at UVA since 2023. Under the agreement, the company now holds exclusive global rights to develop and commercialise D8 across all disease indications and routes of administration.
It will assess delivery options during the initial development phase, which includes preclinical studies to support an investigational new drug application.
Matthew Crawford, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at UVA, explained: “We’ve found a genuinely new way to fight life-threatening infections that have few, if any, effective treatment options.” “It’s exactly the kind of discovery that university research exists to produce. Partnering with Qnovia gives peptide D8 a strong path out of the lab and to patients current antibiotics can’t help.”
Antibiotic resistance is expected to be one of the most significant global health and economic challenges of the coming decades.
A 2024 study from the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance Project estimates antibiotic-resistant infections could cause 39 million deaths by 2050. In 2019, these infections led to $693 billion in hospital costs and $194 billion in productivity losses worldwide.
