Abstract: The present invention relates to antibiotic agents for use in the treatment of patients presenting with an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). More particularly the present invention relates to antibiotic agents for use in the treatment of COPD exacerbations in patients that, through analysis, have been identified as having an increased concentration of the IL-1? and TNF-? cytokine biomarkers in a biological sample taken from said patient. The present invention is further directed to methods of diagnosing and methods of treating a patient presenting with an exacerbation of COPD, said methods including identifying 1 the patient is suffering from an exacerbation that is associated with a bacterial infection.

Abstract: Polypeptides comprising Neisseria meningitidis amino acid sequences. Over 36000 meningococcal polypeptide sequences are disclosed. The invention also provides related polypeptides, nucleic acids, antibodies and methods. These can all be usedin medicine for treating or preventing disease and/or infection caused by N. meningitidis, such as meningococcal meningitis.