CARB-X IS FUNDING SWISS PHARMA COMPANY BIOVERSYS TO DEVELOP A NEW CLASS OF ANTIBIOTICS TO TREAT INFECTIONS CAUSED BY MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT ESKAPE PATHOGENS

The award from CARB-X (the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) will help BioVersys develop BV300, a novel class of small molecules called pyrrolocytosines that target the ribosome, which is an unexploited binding site in bacterial pathogens. The molecules have demonstrated coverage of both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria in preclinical testing, including the ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species).

CARB-X is awarding BioVersys, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, up to US$4.35 million in non-dilutive funding, to develop a new class of antibiotics to treat life-threatening infections caused by ESKAPE pathogens, bacteria that have developed resistance to most antibiotics available today. BioVersys could receive up to $10.98 million in additional funds from CARB-X if the project achieves certain milestones, subject to available funds.