Date: 2017-05-05
Type of information: Grant
Company: Achaogen (USA - CA)
Investors: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (USA)
Amount: up to $20.5 million
Funding type: grant
Planned used: Achaogen and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will partner in efforts to prevent neonatal sepsis in developing countries through the generation of monoclonal antibodies against gram-negative bacteria. The grant will support the discovery of monoclonal antibody candidates targeting Acinetobacter baumannii, a leading cause of neonatal sepsis and a major focus of Achaogen’s internal bactericidal antibody program. If successful, future grant funding could support additional antibody discovery and development efforts. The equity investment will significantly accelerate the overall development of Achaogen’s monoclonal antibody discovery platform with the intention of applying this platform to identify novel solutions to prevent and treat infections, including those that disproportionately impact the poor. Achaogen is pursuing research and early development initiatives that are focused on discovering and developing novel antibodies to treat infections caused by multi-drug resistant gram-negative pathogens. Achaogen’s antibody discovery platform allows the rapid identification of rare antibodies that disrupt bacterial membrane biogenesis, leading to bacterial cell death. The platform leverages recent advances in microfluidics, single B cell antibody cloning, and Achaogen’s deep expertise in bacterial genetics, to directly screen millions of individual B cells to discover rare functional antibodies within hours.
Others: • On May 5, 2017, Achaogen announced that it has signed an agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to partner in efforts to prevent neonatal sepsis in developing countries through the generation of monoclonal antibodies against gram-negative bacteria. Achaogen will receive up to $10.5 million in grant funding along with a $10 million equity investment through a purchase of the Company’s common stock. The investment by the Gates Foundation was made as part of its program-related investments (PRI) strategy, which aims to stimulate private sector-driven innovation, encourage market-driven efficiencies and attract external capital to priority global health and development initiatives that improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.
Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases
