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Draft:Tony Velkov

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tony Velkov
File:Tony Velkov.jpg
Tony Velkov
EducationMonash University
Scientific career
FieldsPharmacology, antimicrobial resistance, antibiotic drug discovery
WorkplacesMonash University; University of Melbourne; Deakin University

Tony Velkov is a Professor in pharmacology at Monash University, where he is has established the Laboratory of Anti-infective Pharmacology in the Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI).[1][2] His laboratory is focused on translational antibiotic development.[1][3] He has spent considerable time in industry during several placements with CSL, The Medicines Company, Qpex Biopharma and Sliabx Pharmaceuticals.[4][5][6][7] Notably, he was the co-lead investigator that developed the new lipopeptide antibiotic soralimixin, for infections caused by multi drug-resistant bacterial human pathogens.[3] The candidate drug completed Phase 1 clinical trials involving 104 healthy participants in 2025.

Education and career

[edit]

Following undergrad studies in medicine, in 2004 Tony Velkov completed his PhD at Monash University. His doctoral thesis studies were focused on cyclosporine non-ribosomal peptide synthetase.[8] From 2007 - 2010 he lectured at the Deakin University Medical School.[8] Subsequently, in 2011 he moved into industry placements at CSL when he received an NHMRC Career Development Industry Fellowship Level 1 in 2011 and in 2015 an NHMRC Career Development Industry Fellowship Level 2 at The Medicines Company in San Diego.[4][5] In 2018, he returned to the University of Melbourne where he served as the Principal Research Fellow in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, where he led work on cystic fibrosis and novel antibiotics. In 2022, he moved back into industry when was selected for an MTPConnect REDI industry fellowship focused on antibiotic clinical-trial processes involving a 12-month placement with Qpex Biopharma in San Diego USA.[6] In 2022 he returned to Monash University Clayton Campus, Melbourne Australia where he established the Anti-infective Pharmacology Laboratory in the Department of Pharmacology.[1]

Research history

[edit]

Cyclosporine non-ribosomal peptide biosynthesis, drug-binding proteins and influenza

[edit]

His early doctoral research focused on the non-ribosomal enzyme system cyclosporine synthetase that produces the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporine.[9][10] During his post-doctoral studies his research focused on the drug binding properties of gut localised intracellular fatty-acid-binding proteins. During his placement at CSL he studies influenza haemagglutinin receptor recognition and viral surface antigen mapping.

Polymyxin and octapeptin research

[edit]

His research focus then moved heavily into antibiotics particularly cyclic lipopeptide antibiotics such as the polymyxins and octapeptins.[11] A major pinnacle of this research was the development of QPX9003.[3] ABC News Australia reported Velkov and Li had worked together on developing the antibiotic for approximately 12 years as QPX9003 entered Phase 1 clinical trials in the USA.[12] The candidate drug entered Phase 1 testing in 2021. The completed randomized Phase 1 study, published under the name BRII-693 which enrolled 104 healthy adults.[13] Brii Biosciences renamed the drug candidate to soralimixin.

Teixobactin and antimicrobial research

[edit]

His research focus then shifted to teixobactin antibiotic development, including development of teixobactin hybrids and in line with his early PhD work, investigating the impact N-methylation on the antibacterial activity of teixobactins.His team published a definative treatise in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences on the chemistry of teixobactins. In 2020, Australian Associated Press reported on his examining how teixobactin acts against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In 2024, his team reported synergistic activity between Leu10-teixobactin and cefepime against multidrug-resistant S. aureus. His team employed metabolic profiling to examine the combination of polymyxin B and Leu10-teixobactin against multidrug-resistant bacteria.

Industry and commercialisation

[edit]

Tony Velkov’s industry-linked career has included four competitive fellowship programs.[4][5] Alongside these fellowships, Velkov was part of a Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences team that in 2012 entered an NIH-funded collaboration with Rempex Pharmaceuticals in California to design and develop new antibiotics for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections. In 2023, the Australian Research Council selected Tony Velkov for a Mid-Career Industry Fellowship.

Patents

[edit]

Stemming from his strong industry and translational research, Tony Velkov is a co-inventor on at least six antimicrobial patent families, that span lipopeptide antibiotics, broad-spectrum antibiotic hybrids, antibacterial hydrogels and bacterial drug-efflux pump inhibitors.

NIH and US DoD funding

[edit]

Tony Velkov has participated in a series of United States National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases R01 programs spanning antimicrobial discovery, combination therapy, inhaled delivery, central-nervous-system pharmacology of polymyxins and antibiotic development.[1] The U.S. Department of Defense award RC190160US supported his teams antimicrobial hydrogel research.[14][1]

Awards

[edit]

Monash University records Velkov as a recipient of an NHMRC Research Excellence Award in 2011.[15] In 2015, he received another NHMRC Research Excellence Award after receiving the highest-ranked Career Development Fellowship – Industry, Level 2; the award was reported by MJA Careers and Monash University.[16][17] Velkov was a member of the Monash team featured in the NHMRC publication 10 of the Best Research Projects 2014 for work on new-generation polymyxin antibiotics. In 2022, Velkov, Jian Li, Kade Roberts, Roger Nation and Philip Thompson received Monash University's Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research Engagement and Impact for the QPX9003 research program.[18][19][20][21]

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tony Velkov". Monash University. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  2. ↑ "Contact – Velkov Laboratory". Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Slingerland, Cornelis J.; Martin, Nathaniel I. (12 April 2024). "Recent Advances in the Development of Polymyxin Antibiotics: 2010–2023". ACS Infectious Diseases. 10 (4): 1056–1079. doi:10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00630. PMC 11019560. PMID 38470446.
  4. 1 2 3 "NHMRC Career Development Industry Fellow Level 1". Monash University. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "NHMRC Career Development Industry Fellow Level 2". Monash University. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Ten Sought-After Industry Fellowships Awarded to Boost Medical Research Commercialisation". MTPConnect. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  7. ↑ "Selection Report: Mid-Career Industry Fellowships 2023". Australian Research Council. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  8. 1 2 Velkov, Tony; Roberts, Kade D.; Li, Jian (2017). "Rediscovering the octapeptins". Natural Product Reports. 34 (3): 295–309. doi:10.1039/C6NP00113K. PMC 5802877. PMID 28180225.
  9. ↑ Velkov, T.; Lawen, A. (2002). "Mapping and molecular modeling of S-adenosyl-L-methionine binding sites in N-methyltransferase domains of the multifunctional polypeptide cyclosporin synthetase". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 278 (2): 1137–1148. doi:10.1074/jbc.M209719200. PMID 12399454.
  10. ↑ Velkov, T.; Lawen, A. (2003). Non-ribosomal peptide synthetases as technological platforms for the synthesis of highly modified peptide bioeffectors – Cyclosporin synthetase as a complex example. Biotechnology Annual Review. Vol. 9. pp. 151–197. doi:10.1016/S1387-2656(03)09002-1. ISBN 978-0-444-51400-4. PMID 14650927.
  11. ↑ Velkov, Tony; Thompson, Philip E.; Nation, Roger L.; Li, Jian (2010). "Structure-Activity Relationships of Polymyxin Antibiotics". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 53 (5): 1898–1916. Bibcode:2010JMedC..53.1898V. doi:10.1021/jm900999h. PMC 2907661. PMID 19874036.
  12. ↑ Cite error: The named reference ABC2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ↑ Cite error: The named reference Phase1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ↑ Cite error: The named reference LuFunding2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ↑ "NHMRC Research Excellence Award". Monash University. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  16. ↑ "Around the universities" (PDF). MJA Careers. Vol. 203, no. 8. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  17. ↑ "Dr Tony Velkov among stars of medical research". Monash University. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  18. ↑ "NHMRC Career Development Industry Fellow Level 1". Monash University. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  19. ↑ "NHMRC Career Development Industry Fellow Level 2". Monash University. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  20. ↑ "Ten Sought-After Industry Fellowships Awarded to Boost Medical Research Commercialisation". MTPConnect. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
  21. ↑ "Antibiotic resistance is threatening our health. Will bacterial infection send us back to the medical dark age?". ABC News. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2026.
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