Staten Island, New York, USA, August 10, 2026
Acurx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced a new scientific partnership with Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in the Netherlands to advance the development of a new class of DNA polymerase IIIC (PolC) inhibitor antibiotics targeting difficult-to-treat bacterial infections. The collaboration builds on earlier research supported by an innovative Health-Holland research grant awarded to Leiden University and Acurx in November 2025. The new partnership will extend structural and mechanistic studies of PolC inhibition, with a particular focus on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other drug-resistant Gram-positive pathogens.
Partnership Targets MRSA Antibiotic Discovery
A central objective of the new research program is to generate the first-ever three-dimensional structure of MRSA PolC in complex with DNA and an Acurx inhibitor. The structural information is expected to support a deeper understanding of how PolC inhibitors interact with their molecular target and could help guide the rational discovery and design of additional antibiotic candidates. MRSA is identified as a high-priority clinical pathogen, and the partnership is intended to accelerate development of novel agents with potential activity against a range of Gram-positive bacteria resistant to currently available antibiotics.
The collaboration follows earlier work that generated detailed three-dimensional structures of three PolC complexes from Enterococcus. That research, published in Nature Communications in 2025, provided insights into the structure-function relationship of the PolC inhibitor class. According to Acurx, the previous studies also helped explain why ibezapolstat, the company’s lead candidate, lacks cross-resistance with other antibiotics and does not foster the emergence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus strains.
Structural Research Could Guide New Antibiotics
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The new research will be led by Wiep Klaas Smits, PhD, Associate Professor in the LUMC Department of Medical Microbiology, in collaboration with Meindert Lamers, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, and Mia Urem, PhD, at LUMC. The researchers will investigate differences between PolC proteins from different Gram-positive organisms and seek to improve understanding of how novel antibiotics interact with their targets. This work could provide additional structure-activity insights for designing next-generation PolC inhibitors.
Acurx said the research is particularly important alongside initial laboratory findings from MRSA-infected neutropenic mice at the University of Houston School of Pharmacy. The company reported that its DNA PolC antibiotics demonstrated favorable gut-sparing effects while maintaining systemic antibacterial activity in those experiments. Acurx believes these findings, together with the new structural research, could support further rational design of PolC inhibitors.
Acurx Advances Broader Anti-Infective Pipeline
The partnership forms part of Acurx’s broader antimicrobial drug-development strategy. The company is developing small-molecule antibiotics that selectively target the active site of the Gram-positive bacterial enzyme DNA polymerase IIIC, blocking DNA replication and ultimately causing bacterial cell death. Its research pipeline includes candidates targeting Clostridioides difficile, MRSA, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, and other serious bacterial infections.
Acurx’s lead product candidate, ibezapolstat, is being developed for C. difficile infection and is described as ready to advance into Phase 3 international clinical trials, subject to financing. The company has also received FDA guidance concerning its planned Phase 3 program, including the potential pathway toward an NDA submission for both acute treatment and reduction of recurrence of C. difficile infection. The latest scientific partnership strengthens Acurx’s research platform by combining structural biology, antibiotic discovery, molecular pharmacology, and antimicrobial resistance research. By investigating PolC at the molecular level and applying the resulting insights to drug design, Acurx and LUMC aim to expand the potential of this novel antibiotic mechanism against drug-resistant Gram-positive infections.
Source: Acurx Pharmaceuticals press release
