Press Release : Basilea awarded CARB-X grant of up to USD2.7million to develop novel-class antibiotic

 
   -- Targeting infections caused by drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria 
 
 
   Basel, Switzerland, May 19, 2021 
 
   Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. (SIX: BSLN) announced today that it has been 
awarded a grant of up to USD 2.7 million from CARB-X (Combating 
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator), a global 
partnership dedicated to supporting the early development of 
antibacterial products to diagnose, prevent and treat drug-resistant 
infections. The funding will support an ongoing Basilea research program 
to develop an antibiotic from a novel class for the treatment of serious 
infections caused by drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. 
 
   The program aims to develop selective small-molecule inhibitors of DXR, 
an enzyme in the bacterial isoprenoid biosynthesis pathway. This enzyme 
is essential for the survival of many Gram-negative bacteria, including 
carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales and Acinetobacter baumannii as 
well as multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which are 
listed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World 
Health Organization (WHO) as urgent and serious threats, or critical 
pathogens, against which new antibiotics are urgently needed. 
 
   Dr. Laurenz Kellenberger, Chief Scientific Officer, said: "The medical 
problem of antimicrobial resistance keeps increasing. Therefore, new 
antibiotics are urgently needed that will be able to address resistance 
that is growing against current treatment options. We are delighted to 
be partnering with CARB-X for the development of truly innovative 
antibiotics directed against this unexploited bacterial target. Basilea 
remains committed to leverage its proven ability in the discovery, 
development and commercialization of novel anti-infectives to deliver 
new treatment options to patients facing bacterial drug-resistance 
worldwide." 
 
   About Basilea 
 
   Basilea is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2000 
and headquartered in Switzerland. We are committed to discovering, 
developing and commercializing innovative drugs to meet the medical 
needs of patients with cancer and infectious diseases. We have 
successfully launched two hospital brands, Cresemba for the treatment of 
invasive fungal infections and Zevtera for the treatment of severe 
bacterial infections. We are conducting clinical studies with two 
targeted drug candidates for the treatment of a range of cancers and 
have a number of preclinical assets in both cancer and infectious 
diseases in our portfolio. Basilea is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange 
(SIX: BSLN). Please visit basilea.com 
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. 
 
   About CARB-X 
 
   CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical 
Accelerator) is a global non-profit partnership dedicated to supporting 
early development antibacterial R&D to address the rising threat of 
drug-resistant bacteria. CARB-X is led by Boston University and funding 
is provided by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development 
Authority 
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(BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness 
and Response (ASPR) in the US Department of Health and Human Services, 
the Wellcome Trust 
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, a global charity based in the UK working to improve health globally; 
Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) 
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; the UK Department of Health and Social Care's 
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Global Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund (GAMRIF) funded by the 
UK Government Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); the Bill & 
Melinda Gates Foundation 
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, and with in-kind support from National Institute of Allergy and 
Infectious Diseases 
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(NIAID), part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the 
US Department of Health and Human Services. CARB-X is investing up to 
USD 480 million from 2016-2022 to support innovative therapeutics, 
preventives and rapid diagnostics. CARB-X funds only projects that 
target drug-resistant bacteria highlighted on the CDC's Antibiotic 
Resistant Threats list 
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, or the Priority Bacterial Pathogens list published by the WHO 
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, 
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with a priority on those pathogens deemed Serious or Urgent on the CDC 
list or Critical or High on the WHO list. CARB-X is headquartered at 
Boston University School of Law. https://carb-x.org/. Follow us on 
Twitter @CARB_X 
 
   CARB-X's funding for this project is sponsored by Cooperative Agreement 
Number IDSEP160030 from ASPR/BARDA and by awards from Wellcome Trust and 
Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The content of 
this press release is solely the responsibility of Basilea and does not 
necessarily represent the official views of CARB-X or any of its 
funders. 
 
   Disclaimer 
 
   This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain 
forward-looking statements, such as "believe", "assume", "expect", 
"forecast", "project", "may", "could", "might", "will" or similar 
expressions concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. and its business, 
including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of 
research, development and clinical studies for product candidates. Such 
statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and 
other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, 
performance or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. to be 
materially different from any future results, performance or 
achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. 
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is providing this communication as of this 
date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements 
contained herein as a result of new information, future events or 
otherwise. 
 
   For further information, please contact: 
 
 
 
 
  Peer Nils Schröder, PhD 
   Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations 
  Phone                                     [phone] 
  E-mail        [e-mail] 
                 [e-mail] 
 
 
   This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com. 
 
   Attachment 
 
 
   -- Press release (PDF) 
      https://ml-eu.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/c9417e5f-f262-425a-a206-635b057c1036

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 19, 2021 01:15 ET (05:15 GMT)