Helperby Therapeutics is providing novel solutions to treat infectious diseases with new combinations of repurposed approved drugs

Helperby Therapeutics was founded by Prof Sir Anthony Coates in 2002 as a spinout from St. Georges, University of London. Prior to establishing the company, Prof Coates had built up a significant body of research to form its foundations.

Working under his mentor, Denis Mitchison, pioneer of the randomised controlled trial and the combination therapy that is still used against tuberculosis today, Prof Coates learnt how combinations of antibiotics were very effective.

As the trend for bacteria becoming resistant to single agent antibiotics became apparent (such as with MRSA) Prof Coates saw the opportunity to apply his experience with combinations to a growing new field.

Helperby Therapeutics was born and is today the only company developing new combinations of old active antimicrobials against common bacterial infections. During Helperby’s research into how to combine different drugs, Prof Coates and Dr Yanmin Hu discovered that synergy was occurring between some combinations and developed a set of techniques to identify the most synergistic combinations.

We now have a significant patented IP portfolio, of which 11 baskets are ready for commercialisation. Our lead program (HY001) is already in clinical trials, targetting market authorisation and sales in 2024. Our approach of using antibiotics in combinations has also been adopted by the principal international antibiotic research organisation, GARDP (Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership).