Antabio and Bpifrance, the French public investment bank, announce that Antabio will receive EUR 742,000 (USD 1,02 million) in funding from Bpifrance to support the discovery, evaluation and development of new adjunctive antibiotic therapies. Within the Bpifrance-supported programme, Antabio will develop compounds targeting key mechanisms of bacterial pathogenicity that will be co-administered with antibiotics to enhance their effectiveness against multi drug-resistant (MDR) gram-negative bacteria that cause severe and life-threatening infections.
As the spread of antibiotic-resistance among gram-negative pathogens is becoming a major global threat, the need for novel and pharmacologically-tractable lead compounds targeting these bacteria has never been so high. With the support of Bpifrance, Antabio will progress its novel antibiotic adjuvant compounds with the goal of commencing IND enabling studies in 2015. Several projects, originating from both Antabio’s internal R&D activities and external opportunities, are being pursued in parallel with the objective of generating a portfolio of small molecule compounds for the treatment of MDR gram-negative bacteria. The starting points for these projects include existing drug-like molecules with promising adjunctive properties and genetically validated targets with robust screening approaches. The best projects will be developed to clinical proof-of-concept (Phase II a) where they will be available for licensing towards commercialization. Antabio and its partners will thus be in a position to provide the pharmaceutical industry with new validated drugs that will reinvigorate the antibacterial pipeline against MDR gram-negative pathogens.
The company aspires to become a world leader in the discovery and development of novel antibiotic adjuvants and is actively seeking strategic partnerships with academia and pharmaceutical companies to complement and enhance its unique antibiotic adjuvant research portfolio.
About Antabio
Antabio is a private biopharmaceutical company developing novel antibacterial resistance-breakers to treat drug-resistant infections in areas of highest unmet medical need. Two of Antabio’s programs have received Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug Discovery Awards to date: [i] a novel, safe and efficacious inhibitor of bacterial metallo ß-lactamases to be combined with a carbapenem for the treatment of drug-resistant nosocomial infections and [ii] a first-in-class inhibitor of Pseudomonas virulence to be co-administered with standard-of-care antibiotics for the long-term management of chronic respiratory infections. The company’s lead product is expected to enter the clinic in 2019 with a fast track to anticipated marketing approval by 2021. Antabio has built a best in class, international team of experts in the field and is currently seeking to raise additional funds to progress its pipeline up to the next value inflection point. The Company is also looking to in-license additional assets focused on Gram-negative antibiotic resistant therapies. Please visit www.antabio.com and follow us on Twitter @antabio
About Bpifrance
Since the 1 January 2013, Bpifrance, the French public investment bank, brings together the financing activities of OSEO (innovation, guarantee, credit) and those of equity investments led by FSI, FSI Régions et CDC Entreprises. Its ambition is to help businesses, ranging from start-ups to medium-sized companies, and occasionally large companies, to innovate, invest, grow and export. Bpifrance, by sharing the risks with its private and public partners, provides a continuum of financing, from short-term credits to equity capital, that meets the needs relating to each stage of businesses life cycle.