The privately held biopharmaceutical company Inimex Pharmaceuticals has appointed Dr Michael Abrams president and CEO. In 1996, Dr Abrams led the establishment of AnorMED and served as the company's president and CEO until 2006. AnorMED was acquired by Genzyme for $580 million in 2006.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, Biotechs Battle Bacteria, features profiles of AureoGen Biosciences, Biovertis, Inimex Pharmaceuticals and Prolysis. Plus these Start-Ups across Health Care: Afmedica, Intercept Pharmaceuticals and MAP Pharmaceuticals.

The basis for Inimex's pipeline was born a few years ago when company founders teamed up to investigate small cationic peptides as antimicrobials for the Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network. They found that some cationic peptides didn't kill bacteria, but had the ability to prevent or treat infection in animal models. The trio led a team to concentrate on a unique expression profile that activated innate response without stimulating inflammation, and that research forms the foundation of the company's current portfolio of compounds that selectively boost immunity.

The rise in bacterial resistance has prompted a plethora of creative approaches to developing antibiotics. These range from finding completely novel targets to harnessing the body's own immune system to fight bacteria. And although biotechs have had the anti-bacterials space to themselves for the last few years, as more programs reach proof of concept, some Big Pharma may be showing signs of renewed interest.