Boosting Sustainable Innovation in Developing New Antibiotic Adjuvants to Control Biofilm Resistance

ongoing

InnovAntiBiofilm will revolve around the subject matter of sustainable development of new adjuvant agents to boost the action of antibiotics against biofilm infections. This will be achieved through the sustainable biosynthesis of plant molecules and the rational development of derivatives. These scientific activities, together with capacity building and networking activities, talent development of young researchers, mentoring, inclusiveness, and strengthening research management and administration skills, will be at the crux of the project concept. This will be achieved by Twinning UPORTO with truly outstanding EU institutions with recognised expertise in the areas of medicinal and combinatorial chemistry (CEA), metabolic and bioprocess engineering (Fraunhofer-IME), and R&I management, access to funding and links with industry (KPMG). These internationally-leading partners will provide decisive expertise to capacitate UPORTO on the heterologous biosynthesis of phytochemicals and development of innovative phytochemical derivatives with improved antibiotic adjuvant action for biofilm control, as well as to strengthen UPORTO’s R&D competitiveness and administrative skills. The objectives of InnovAntiBiofilm are in line with the specific challenge and scope of the topic HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-02-01 of the Twinning call, addressing networking gaps and deficiencies between the research institutions of the Widening countries and internationally-leading counterparts at EU level. InnovAntiBiofilm will allow the development of a consolidated strategic research approach and a set of guidelines for exploitation and commercialisation of the results that will have a strong regional, national and European impact. The project integrates synergies in complementary fields of research that include biotechnology, microbiology, synthetic chemistry and pharmacognosy, aiming to obtain scientific breakthroughs that can improve global health and economy.