Blacksmith Medicines and Collaborators to Present at the Interdisciplinary Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance and Innovation (IMARI)

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Blacksmith Medicines, Inc. (Blacksmith), a leading biopharma dedicated to discovering and developing therapeutics targeting metalloenzymes, today announced that data on its lead antibacterial candidate targeting LpxC, FG-2101, being advanced for both intravenous and oral administration for the treatment of susceptible and multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens will be presented at the Interdisciplinary Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance and Innovation (IMARI) being held January 28-30, 2026, in Las Vegas, NV.

“We look forward to presenting at IMARI multiple FG-2101 in vitro and in vivo data sets originating from our lab and from our academic collaborator, David Andes, Ph.D. at University of Wisconsin,” said Andrew Tomaras, Ph.D., Senior Vice President at Blacksmith.

Blacksmith Talk Details:
Title: “FG-2101:  A potential first-in-class LpxC inhibitor with activity against multidrug-resistant Enterobacterales and demonstrated and differentiated preclinical safety”
Lead Author & Affiliation: Andrew Tomaras, Ph.D., Senior Vice President at Blacksmith
Session: New Antimicrobial Agents
Date and Time: Thursday, January 29 at 10:15am – 10:30am Pacific

Blacksmith Poster Details:
Title: “FG-2101:  A potential first-in-class LpxC inhibitor with activity against multidrug-resistant Enterobacterales and demonstrated and differentiated preclinical safety”
Lead Author & Affiliation: Andrew Tomaras, Ph.D., Senior Vice President at Blacksmith
Poster Session: Poster Session #2
Poster Board Number: New Agents-Fri-262
Date & Time: Friday, January 30 at 10:45am – 12:15pm Pacific

Academic Collaborator Poster Details:
Title: “Utilizing a Simultaneous Neutropenic Thigh and Hematogenous Pyelonephritis Mouse Model to Determine PK/PD Efficacy of a Novel LpxC Inhibitor FG-2101”
Lead Author & Affiliation: David Andes, Ph.D., Chief of the Division of Infectious Disease at University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine
Poster Session: Poster Session #2
Poster Board Number: Topic 12-Fri-213
Date & Time: Friday, January 30 at 10:45am – 12:15pm Pacific

More information can be found on the meeting website at IMARI 2026 and, following the presentation, a version of the poster will be made available on the Blacksmith Medicines website www.BlacksmithMedicines.com

The FG-960/FG-2101 program is currently supported under a contract with NIAID (75N93022C00060). 

About LpxC
LpxC is a zinc-dependent hydrolase and an attractive antibiotic target, conserved across Gram-negative bacteria but absent in Gram-positive species and human cells. Its inhibition leads to potent and selective Gram-negative bacterial killing without any measurable antibacterial activity against beneficial Gram-positive microbiota, potentially reducing treatment risks such as secondary infections with Clostridioides difficile.

Previous LpxC inhibitors, primarily hydroxamic acid-based, have shown poor drug-like properties, resulting in no approved therapies to date. Leveraging its proprietary chemistry platform, Blacksmith has developed novel non-hydroxamate LpxC inhibitors that demonstrate safety and efficacy in animal models and effectively target multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens.

About metalloenzymes and the Blacksmith platform
Metalloenzymes rely on metal ion cofactors within their active sites to perform critical biological functions. Historically, these targets have been challenging to drug due to limitations in small-molecule chemistry. The Blacksmith platform addresses these challenges through: 

• A proprietary fragment library of metal-binding pharmacophores (MBPs);
• A comprehensive database mapping metalloenzyme functions, metal cofactors, and disease associations;
• A unique metallo-CRISPR library of custom single guide RNAs;
• An advanced computational toolkit for docking, modeling, and structure-based drug design;
• A robust intellectual property portfolio spanning bioinorganic, medicinal, and computational chemistry for metalloenzyme-targeted therapeutics

About Blacksmith Medicines 
Blacksmith Medicines is pioneering the development of therapeutics targeting metal-dependent enzymes, a class that represents over 30% of all known enzymes across major categories, including oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, isomerases, and ligases. These enzymes rely on essential metal ions—such as magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, and copper—for catalytic activity. Historically, metalloenzymes have been difficult to drug due to limitations in small-molecule chemistry.

Blacksmith’s purpose-built platform overcomes these challenges by integrating a proprietary library of metal-binding pharmacophores with advanced computational modeling to design small-molecule inhibitors that precisely engage metal ions within enzyme active sites. This approach enables the rapid, predictable development of potent and selective inhibitors.

The company has established strategic collaborations with Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd., Cyteir Therapeutics Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., and Zoetis LLC, and secured non-dilutive funding from CARB-X and NIH/NIAID. Blacksmith’s investors include Lilly, Evotec A.G., MP Healthcare Partners, MagnaSci Ventures, and Alexandria Venture Investments.

For more information, visit www.BlacksmithMedicines.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Amy Conrad
Juniper Point
amy@juniper-point.com
858-366-3243

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SOURCE Blacksmith Medicines