Twelve years on from the World Health Organization formally raising the alarm, antimicrobial resistance continues to grow, and despite numerous public and private incentives and initiatives, the pipeline of antibiotics in development is thinner than ever.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is increasingly compromising the effectiveness of essential antibiotics, resulting in higher global mortality and morbidity rates. Despite this urgent need, few new antibiotics, particularly against gram-negative bacteria, are in development.
Lixa Pty Ltd. has formed a partnership with the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership and announced a AU$28 million (US$20 million) series B round to take Neox-121 to the clinic to fight antimicrobial resistance.
Shanx Medtech BV raised €15 million (US$17.5 million) in a seed funding round for its in vitro diagnostic platform for ultra-rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The financing came from a range of sources including equity, grants and a loan, and will be used to accelerate the development, clinical validation, regulatory approval, and commercial launch of the diagnostic platform.
The EU finally reached agreement on an update of the 20-year-old pharmaceutical legislation, more than five years after the EU Commission first put forward the case for reform and following two and a half years of negotiations on the new rules.
Scynexis Inc. has announced that a novel series of antifungal compounds utilizing its proprietary triterpenoid antifungal platform are among five projects funded by a federal grant awarded to the new accelerator consortium led by researchers from Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
GSK plc and the Fleming Initiative have announced six major new research programs to find new ways to slow the progress of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The Fleming Initiative is a collaboration established by Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to help tackle AMR. Each of the new programs will begin by early next year and are fully funded for 3 years.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc and Biomérieux SA launched Ampore-TB, a research use only test that can rapidly detect mutations linked to antimicrobial resistance in tuberculosis. With multidrug-resistant TB affecting an estimated 400,000 people annually and increasing risks of morbidity and mortality, this assay could help with earlier diagnosis of drug resistance in patients.
One in six common bacterial infections diagnosed worldwide in 2023 were resistant to treatment with antibiotics, according to the latest surveillance data gathered by the World Health Organization (WHO). Drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria that cause bloodstream infections that can lead to sepsis, organ failure and death are an increasing threat globally.
Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) has awarded Baxiva AG $3 million to develop its multivalent glycoconjugate vaccine.
