Professor Dave Spring talks about his research into new antibiotics to treat lung infection

Sara: How did you start out in research? 

Dave: Since I was 14, I’ve loved chemistry and making things. In my PhD research studies, I made some really complicated chemicals – but afterwards, we wouldn’t use them and would just stick them in the freezer. But I wanted to make chemicals and use them for a purpose! So, I moved to designing and making new medicines. 

Sara: What motivated you to work in cystic fibrosis? 

Dave: Early in my career, I became good friends with someone with CF and learned about what it was like to live with it. I was always looking for an opportunity to design new medicines to help people with CF. It took a long time to realise this, but eventually, I had the opportunity, thanks to funding from Cystic Fibrosis Trust for the Innovation Hub. 

Sara: Tell us about the research you’re doing now. 

Dave: We’re looking at several different ways to design new antibiotics to make them more effective and less toxic. For example: Antibody drug conjugates This is a way of giving older antibiotics that have been withdrawn from use due to their toxicity a new lease of life. We chemically join an antibiotic to an antibody. When the antibody reaches the bacteria, the chemical bond is broken and only then does the medicine become active. Keeping the medicines in bacteria For a medicine to be an effective antibiotic, it needs to be able to stay within the bacteria it’s designed to kill. However, bacteria have ways of preventing this! For small-molecule medicines, we’re working out how to test whether any new potential medicine can get into the bacteria as early as possible in the design process. 

Sara: How long does it take to develop new medicines? 

Dave: It can take over ten years, depending on what type of medicine it is. Around five years of this would be working on the chemistry to make the best possible version of the medicine. The rest of the time is spent making sure the medicine is safe and effective when given to people. We’ve made a start on this, and we’re not letting the timeframes put us off! 

Sara: How will your research benefit the CF community?

Dave: It’s early days, but in the future, I hope that there will be new antibiotics that work in new ways that can treat the lung infections people with CF develop.

Read our report celebrating the achievements of the CF Innovation Hub on lung health at the University of Cambridge

If you would like to take part in the project to increase access to clinical trials, please get in touch with our Clinical Trials team to find out more [email protected]. Find out more about CF clinical trials.