$1 billion fund seeking new antibiotics targets phages with first investments
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A $1 billion public-private partnership seeking new antibiotics announced its first investments Monday.
The AMR Action Fund — which was launched in 2020 with a goal of developing two to four new antibiotics by 2030 — said it has invested in Adaptive Phage Therapeutics and Venatorx Pharmaceuticals.
The effort is funded by dozens of biopharmaceutical companies and backed by WHO, the European Investment Bank and the Wellcome Trust
“From inception, the AMR Action Fund has focused on identifying investments that will yield urgently needed treatments and catalyze long-term innovation to take on the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which now kills more people annually than HIV/AIDS or malaria,” Bill Burns, PhD, board chair of the AMR Action Fund, said in a press release.
According to the release, Adaptive Phage Therapeutics'approach to combating resistance utilizes a growing library of bacteriophages that are currently being tested on a range of infections, such as prosthetic joint infections, bone infections and lung infections.
Phages — viruses that target and consume bacteria — have re-emerged as a promising alternative to treat antibiotic-resistant infections.
Venatorx Pharmaceuticals’ two lead programs are studying IV and oral beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations targeting drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria.
“Adaptive Phage Therapeutics and Venatorx Pharmaceuticals are poised to change the treatment landscape for drug-resistant infections,” Henry Skinner, PhD, CEO of the AMR Action Fund, said in the release.
The release did not specify how much the fund invested in each company, but Skinner said the plan is to invest more than $100 million this year.
“Our investments are substantial, but we alone are not enough to take on the global challenge of AMR,” Skinner said. “It is now imperative that policymakers around the world enact market reforms to support investment in these urgently needed medications."
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