Research in the Dick Lab
TB and NTM drug discovery
The lab focuses on the discovery of new antibiotics for the treatment of TB and lung disease caused by Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM). At CDI-HMH the team established a fully enabled drug discovery platform for the delivery of preclinical development candidates. With medicinal chemistry partners from industry and academia the group developed an attractive portfolio of reengineering and de novo drug discovery projects, complemented by repurposing studies.
Recent publications
Dartois V, Dick T. Therapeutic developments for tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2024 PMID: 38418662;
Dartois V, Dick T. Toward better cures for Mycobacterium abscessus lung disease. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2024 PMID: 39360834;
Aragaw WW, Negatu DA, Bungard CJ, Dartois VA, Marrouni AE, Nickbarg EB, Olsen DB, Warrass R, Dick T. Pharmacological validation of dihydrofolate reductase as a drug target in Mycobacterium abscessus. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2024 PMID: 38018963;
Aragaw WW, Gebresilase TT, Negatu DA, Dartois V, Dick T. Multidrug tolerance conferred by loss-of-function mutations in anti-sigma factor RshA of Mycobacterium abscessus. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2024 PMID: 39470195;
Negatu DA, Aragaw WW, Gebresilase TT, Paruchuri S, Kaya F, Shin SJ, Sander P, Dartois V, Dick T. Durlobactam to boost the clinical utility of standard of care β-lactams against Mycobacterium abscessus lung disease. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2024 PMID: 39565116.
Negatu DA, Shin SJ, Kim SY, Jhun BW, Dartois V, Dick T. Oral β-Lactam Pairs for the Treatment of Mycobacterium avium Complex Pulmonary Disease. J Infect Dis. 2024 PMID: 38150401;
Negatu DA, Aragaw WW, Dartois V, Dick T. A pairwise approach to revitalize β-lactams for the treatment of TB. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2024 PMID: 38690896;
van Ingen J, Hoefsloot W, Dartois V, Dick T. Rifampicin has no role in treatment of Mycobacterium avium complex pulmonary disease and bactericidal sterilising drugs are needed: a viewpoint. Eur Respir J. 2024 PMID: 38697635;
Sarathy JP, Xie M, Wong CF, Negatu DA, Rodriguez S, Zimmerman MD, Jimenez DC, Alshiraihi IM, Gonzalez-Juarrero M, Dartois V and Dick T. Towards a bactericidal oral drug combination for the treatment of Mycobacterium abscessus lung disease. ACS Infect Dis 2025, in press.
Proietto J, Tatek B, Folvar C, Jimenez DC, Alshiraihi IM, Gonzalez-Juarrero M, Saliu F, Vacca F, Cirillo DM, Lore N, Dick T, Dartois V, Aragaw WW. Preparation of agar bead embedded Mycobacterium abscessus to inoculate immunocompetent mice intratracheally. J Visualized Experiments. 2025, in press.