(BOSTON: May 11, 2020) – CARB-X announced its 60th award today, representing more than $220 million invested since CARB-X was established in 2016 to support the early development of innovative products to fight drug resistance.
“New antibiotics, vaccines, diagnostics and other life-saving products are urgently needed to address the rising threat of drug resistant bacteria, today and to prepare for the future,” says Kevin Outterson, Executive Director of CARB-X. Since it was established in 2016, CARB-X has provided non-dilutive funding and support to early development antibacterial R&D product developers in seven countries around the world. A non-profit partnership, CARB-X has also built the world’s largest and most scientifically diverse portfolio of antibacterial projects.
The 60th award went to Day Zero Diagnostics, based in Boston. Day Zero is eligible for up to US$6.2 million, plus up to $18.7 million more if projects milestones are met, to develop a test that could diagnose bacterial infections more quickly – within hours rather than days – and show physicians which antibiotics are most likely to effectively treat the infection.
CARB-X is investing up to $500 million in antibacterial R&D between 2016-2021. The goal is to support projects through the early phases of development through Phase 1, for therapeutics, so that they will attract additional private or public support for further clinical development and approval for use in patients.
CARB-X pipeline producing results
The Powered by CARB-X portfolio currently supports 38 innovative projects in five countries. In addition, seven projects have already graduated from the portfolio and are currently in development or on the market. The remaining projects have been down-selected. The CARB-X pipeline will continuously evolve, as projects progress and others fail for a variety of scientific or economic reasons.
Currently, of the 38 active projects in the portfolio, 33 focus on new classes of antibiotics, vaccines and non-traditional therapeutics such as microbiome. There are 5 diagnostics projects in the portfolio, including Day Zero’s. The scope of CARB-X funding is restricted to projects that target drug-resistant bacteria highlighted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Antibiotic Resistant Threats list, or the Priority Bacterial Pathogens list published by the WHO in 2017 – with a priority on those pathogens deemed Serious or Urgent on the CDC list or Critical or High on the WHO list.
Supporting innovation to address the global drug resistance crisis
CARB-X is a non-profit partnership led by Boston University and funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the US Department of Health and Human Services , the Wellcome Trust, a global charity based in the UK working to improve health globally, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the UK Department of Health and Social Care’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund (GAMRIF), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and with in-kind support from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). CARB-X is headquartered at Boston University School of Law.
This announcement is supported by the Cooperative Agreement Number IDSEP160030 from ASPR/BARDA and by awards from Wellcome Trust and Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, or other CARB-X funders.
CARB-X contact:
Jennifer Robinson
carbxpr@bu.edu