Pipeline has 18 promising research projects with 8 new classes of antibiotics to treat the most urgent drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria
(BOSTON: September 5, 2017) – CARB-X’s first year has been one of achievement and progress in the global fight against drug-resistant bacteria, with a growing pipeline of 18 promising research projects including 8 new classes of antibiotics to treat the most urgent superbugs.
CARB-X’s achievements are captured in its first annual report published today. Among notable achievements:
- $41.6M was awarded in funding to the 18 projects with an additional $52.6M if project milestones are met
- 368 applications were reviewed from around the world and 18 projects selected in 6 countries
- 60 world-leading experts sit on CARB-X’s Science Advisory Board, making recommendations on which projects to support
- 96% of CARB-X spending in year one went directly to fund scientific research
- since its launch July 28, 2016, CARB-X has established a team at Boston University, put in place scientific standards and criteria to review applications, and built a network with its world-class partners to support and accelerate the best science around the world.
“Our pipeline is robust and growing, and we are looking forward to seeing these early-stage projects progress. They offer exciting potential, but we need greater global support from governments, industry and society to expand the portfolio and to get the new treatments the world urgently needs.”
Antibiotic discovery is challenging due to the complexity of bacteria which are easily able to genetically modify and become resistant to medicines, but also because of declining investment by larger companies.
The most recently approved new class of antibiotics was discovered in the early 1980s. However, CARB-X funding is focused on the most resistant, Gram-negative, bacteria, and the last new class of antibiotics approved for treatment against these was discovered in 1962. Many of CARB-X’s projects are at an early stage and it will still take some time before it is known whether they can become safe, effective treatments for patients.
Read the 2016-2017 Annual Report
About CARB-X
CARB-X, the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, is a non-profit public-private partnership dedicated to accelerating innovative antimicrobial research to address the urgent threat to human health of drug-resistant bacteria. CARB-X selects the best scientific research world-wide and will spend $455.5 million in the five years ending July 31, 2021, to accelerate the development of antibiotics, vaccines and rapid diagnostics to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections. Currently, 18 companies from six different countries have been selected for funding from CARB-X and the pipeline continues to grow. CARB-X projects are selected through a global competitive process. Applications are vetted by the CARB-X Science Advisory Board. To be considered, projects must target one of resistant bacteria on the Serious or Urgent Threat List prepared by the CDC or on the Priority Pathogens list published by the WHO. CARB-X was launched in July 2016 by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID/NIH), and is funded by BARDA ($250M), Wellcome Trust ($155.5M) and NIAID ($50M in pre-clinical services). Other partners include the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio), the California Life Sciences Institute (CLSI), and RTI International. www.carb-x.org