AN2 Therapeutics signs grant agreement to discover novel, boron based therapies for TB and malaria

MENLO PARK, Calif., Sep. 26, 2023 -- AN2 Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for rare, chronic, and serious infectious diseases with high unmet needs, today announced that it has received a research grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to discover novel, boron containing small molecules for the treatment of tuberculosis and malaria. Funding from the Gates Foundation will support the discovery of novel inhibitors of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases using AN2’s proprietary boron chemistry platform. AN2’s boron chemistry has the potential to address biological targets for tuberculosis and malaria that build on the scientific expertise of several AN2 scientists that were involved in discovering novel leucyl-tRNA synthetase inhibitors including epetraborole, tavaborole, as well as ganfeborole, which is currently in development for tuberculosis. AN2’s boron chemistry platform has demonstrated success against leucyl- tRNA synthetase, a target that has proven difficult to inhibit using traditional medicinal chemistry approaches.