Date: 2017-02-09
Type of information: Grant
Company: Polyphor (Switzerland)
Investors: Wellcome Trust (UK)
Amount: CHF 2.3 million (€ 2.15 million)
Funding type: grant
Planned used:
- The award will be used to advance the development of broad-spectrum, Gram-negative pre-clinical product candidates. These are based on Polyphor’s new product class, the Outer Membrane Protein Targeting Antibiotics (OMPTA), which has shown outstanding efficacy against the most resistant strains of Gram-negative pathogens. The award will help support the development of novel antibiotics over the next 18 - 24 months.
Polyphor’s broad-spectrum antibiotics have demonstrated to be highly efficacious against multidrug resistant Gram-negative pathogens both in vitro and in vivo belonging to the so-called ESKAPE pathogens (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
and Enterobacter spp.) including isolates resistant to colistin, which is often used as the last resort antibiotic. The new compound series is currently in advanced lead optimization phase and the program should deliver the first development candidates entering clinical testing within the next two
years. Polyphor’s novel antibiotics of the OMPTA class, also comprises murepavadin (POL7080), the first member of the class, which is being developed for the treatment of serious Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections associated with ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP). Polyphor
is currently in discussion with the FDA and the EMA on a regulatory path towards market approval for murepavadin.
Others: • On February 9, 2017, Polyphor announced that it has
received a CHF 2.3 million award from the Wellcome Trust to advance the development of broad-spectrum, Gram-negative pre-clinical product candidates.
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
Is general: Yes
