Fundraisings and IPOs

Date: 2017-07-25

Type of information: Grant

Company: Debiopharm (Switzerland)

Investors: Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB - X) (USA - MA)

Amount: up to $ 4 million

Funding type: grant

Planned used:

• This grant will support development of Debio 1453 to fight drug resistant gonorrhea. Debio 1453 inhibits bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis in major pathogens including Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative bacterium in the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea. N. gonorrhoeae has acquired resistance to practically all classes of antibiotics  which presents a major global medical problem. Debiopharm has prototype compounds which target the FabI enzyme in N. gonorrhoeae. The objective of this program is to optimize the prototype molecules by synthesizing new compounds to improve their drug-like characteristics including anti-bacterial activity, absorption, distribution, metabolism, efficacy and toxicity.
• At the end of the project, the goal is to select a candidate which meets a commercial target product profile and that is ready for further testing in preparation for human clinical trials for uncomplicated gonorrhea caused by susceptible and drug-resistant N. gonorrhoeae.
• In February 2017, WHO  published its first ever list of antibiotic-resistant "priority pathogens" – a catalogue of 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health. The list was drawn up in a bid to guide and promote research and development (R&D) of new antibiotics, as part of WHO’s efforts to address growing global resistance to antimicrobial medicines. The list highlights in particular the threat of gram-negative bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. The WHO list is divided into three categories according to the urgency of need for new antibiotics: critical, high and medium priority.
• – Priority 1: CRITICAL
• Acinetobacter baumannii, carbapenem-resistant
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem-resistant
• Enterobacteriaceae, carbapenem-resistant, ESBL-producing
• – Priority 2: HIGH
• Enterococcus faecium, vancomycin-resistant
• Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant, vancomycin-intermediate and resistant
• Helicobacter pylori, clarithromycin-resistant
• Campylobacter spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant
• Salmonellae, fluoroquinolone-resistant
• Neisseria gonorrhoeae, cephalosporin-resistant, fluoroquinolone-resistant
• – Priority 3: MEDIUM
• Streptococcus pneumoniae, penicillin-non-susceptible
• Haemophilus influenzae, ampicillin-resistant
• Shigella spp., fluoroquinolone-resistant

Others:

• • On July 25, 2017, Debiopharm International announced that it has been selected to receive a funding award from the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) to advance the development of its antibiotic Debio 1453, a FabI inhibitor specifically targeting N. gonorrhoeae.
• Debiopharm will receive a total of up to $2.6 million of funding over 15 months from CARB-X. Based on defined milestones, CARB-X will then have the option of further extending the program, at Debiopharm, for an additional 9 months at a cost of up to $1.4 million.
• CARB-X is backed by the US Government – through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) - and the UK charity Wellcome Trust. It was launched in July 2016 to address the gap in antibiotic research and development and innovations to improve diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant infections. CARB-X will spend up to $455 million from 2017-2021 to support innovative products from 'hit-to-lead' stage through to Phase 1 clinical trials. CARB-X focuses on high priority drug-resistant bacteria, especially Gram-negatives. This charitable global public-private partnership is led by Boston University.

Therapeutic area: Infectious diseases

Is general: Yes