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| |  Human Genome Sciences Sequences Enterococcus Faecalis Genome ROCKVILLE, Md. -- May 9, 1997 -- Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (HGS) announced today that it has determined the genomic sequence of the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis. This organism, a normal part of the intestinal flora, is emerging as a major component of hospital-caused acquired infections. Infections caused by Enterococcus faecalis include urinary tract, surgical wound, abdominal, pelvic and neonatal infections. Enterococcus faecalis is an important cause of endocarditis and mortality due to enterococcal bacteremia. It is estimated that well over 800,000 cases per year of enterococcus infections are reported in the U.S. alone, the third largest cause of hospital based infections. Many strains of Enterococcus faecalis are resistant to most antibiotics and many have acquired resistance to vancomycin, rendering conventional therapies insufficient for serious infections. Between 1989 and 1993 the percentage of hospital related and enterococcal infections reported to the CDC that were vancomycin resistant increased from 0.3% to 7.9%. Scientists at HGS have completed sequencing greater than 98% of the nearly three million nucleotides of the enterococcal genome. There are approximately 4,000 genes, 3,000 of which resemble known genes. The remaining 1,000 bear little or no resemblance to genes previously described in other organisms. Dr. Patrick J. Dillon, Director of Gene Discovery and Exploratory Research at HGS said, "I am very proud of our team's effort in sequencing the genome of Enterococcus faecalis. The knowledge of the complete genome should accelerate work on discovery of novel antibiotics and vaccines to treat and prevent enterococcal infections." HGS is seeking collaborations to develop therapeutic products active against Enterococcus faecalis. HGS' work on Enterococcus faecalis adds substantially to its capability to address problems of emerging bacterial infections. HGS and its collaborators already have active programs using genomic information to create new antibiotics and vaccines based on genomic information from Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Borrelia burgdorferi (lyme disease), uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli and Helicobacter pylori. HGS has intellectual rights to a number of other bacterial genome sequences arising from its relationship with The Institute for Genomic Research. HGS has filed a patent application describing diagnostic, vaccine, and antibiotic development applications on the enterococcus genome information.
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