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Entasis Therapeutics Receives Second CARB-X Award, Providing up to $10.1 Million for Development of Non-Beta-lactam PBP Inhibitor ProgramEntasis Therapeutics Inc., a company focused on the discovery and development of breakthrough anti-infective products, today announced that it has received a CARB-X award to progress its pre-clinical penicillin-binding protein (PBP) inhibitor program from lead optimization through Phase 1 clinical trials. The award commits initial funding up to $3.8 million with the possibility of up to another $6.3 million based on the achievement of milestones. This is Entasis' second CARB-X award following ETX0282CPDP, Entasis' oral beta-lactamase inhibitor in combination with cefpodoxime targeting multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections, recognized in the inaugural round of CARB-X funding in March 2017. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005717/en/ Current leads in the PBP inhibitor program have shown potent in vitro and in vivo antibacterial activity against some of the toughest-to-treat Gram-negative pathogens including multi-drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and multi-drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. "Our continued partnership with CARB-X exhibits enormous promise as we develop our pre-clinical penicillin-binding protein inhibitors to address drug-resistant infections. Anti-infective products are in high demand as drug-resistant bacterial infections are on the rise across the U.S. and the world, causing great concern for both government and industry professionals alike," said Manos Perros, CEO of Entasis. "We are excited to extend our work with CARB-X following our initial partnership earlier this year and look forward to working together to bring these new anti-infective products through discovery into clinicl trials." CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) was launched in July 2016 to accelerate pre-clinical product development in the area of antibiotic-resistant infections, one of the world's greatest public health threats. CARB-X was established by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services along with Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health. This partnership has committed $455 million in new funds over the next five years to increase the number of antibiotics, vaccines and rapid diagnostics in the drug-development pipeline. This non-profit public-private partnership reflects a new approach to how antibacterial research and drug development is identified, funded and accelerated to the clinic. "While beta-lactam antibiotics typically kill bacteria by binding to PBPs, many bacterial pathogens have evolved to produce defense mechanisms, known as beta-lactamases, which inactivate these agents," said Ruben Tommasi, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Entasis. "The latest leads to emerge from our discovery platform are unaffected by all classes of beta-lactamases while demonstrating remarkable biochemical potency and bacterial permeation, which translate to in vitro and in vivo activity against multiple drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. The award from CARB-X will aid in the further design and development of our lead molecules to deliver effective anti-infective agents addressing the growing medical need in the space." Kevin Outterson, Executive Director of CARB-X, said: "The world urgently needs new antibiotics to combat the rise of drug-resistant bacteria. With the Entasis PBP program, the CARB-X portfolio now has 19 projects aimed at treating the most urgent drug-resistant infections. If successful in development, these projects hold exciting potential to save lives and make headway in the global fight against drug-resistant bacteria."
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About Non-Beta-lactam PBP Inhibitor
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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171012005717/en/ |