AMR Action Fund Announces First Investments in Adaptive Phage Therapeutics and Venatorx Pharmaceuticals
PR95284
BOSTON, April 4, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --
-- Deals mark an important step toward AMR Action Fund's goal of bringing two
to four new antibiotics to market to take on growing threat of drug-resistant
bacteria
The AMR Action Fund, the world's largest public-private partnership investing
in biotech companies that are developing antibiotics, announced today that it
has invested in Adaptive Phage Therapeutics (APT) and Venatorx Pharmaceuticals.
The transactions mark the Fund's first investments and are an important step
toward its goal of bringing to market new treatments for priority pathogens
identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
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"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," said Bill Burns, Board Chair of
the AMR Action Fund. "Welcoming Adaptive Phage Therapeutics and Venatorx
Pharmaceuticals as our first portfolio companies demonstrates that we are well
on our way to fulfilling this important mission."
Drug-resistant bacterial infections directly kill an estimated 1.27 million
people annually. Few treatments are in development that target priority
pathogens, and investment into antimicrobials has not kept pace with the threat
to global health security. Recognizing this problem, over twenty pharmaceutical
companies that are members of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical
Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), together with the WHO, the European
Investment Bank, and the Wellcome Trust, launched the AMR Action Fund by
raising nearly $1 billion. The Fund, which operates independently, makes equity
investments in biotechs with the overall goal of bringing two to four new
antibiotics to patients within a decade.
"Adaptive Phage Therapeutics and Venatorx Pharmaceuticals are poised to change
the treatment landscape for drug-resistant infections," said AMR Action Fund
CEO, Henry Skinner. "While this is a major milestone for the Fund, our work is
just beginning. We plan to commit over $100 million in capital this year to
companies developing clinically differentiated antimicrobials with the
potential to treat the most urgent unmet clinical needs, and we will continue
investing in promising biotechs in the years ahead to ensure that patients
around the world have the treatments they need. Our investments are
substantial, but we alone are not enough to take on the global challenge of
AMR. It is now imperative that policymakers around the world enact market
reforms to support investment in these urgently needed medications."
APT's approach leverages an ever-growing library of systematically discovered,
selected, catalogued, and curated bacteriophages (phages), naturally occurring
viruses that infect and kill bacteria, which collectively provide broad
coverage against many high-priority antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Phages from
APT's phage bank are matched to treat patients' infections through a
proprietary susceptibility assay, and are being tested on a range of
infections, including prosthetic joint infections, bone infections
(osteomyelitis), and lung infections. The AMR Action Fund's investment in APT
was executed as an extension to a Series B round led by Deerfield Management
Company.
Greg Merril, APT CEO and Co-Founder, said, "We are thrilled to be among the AMR
Action Fund's first portfolio companies and eager to leverage their scientific
and industry expertise as we continue to advance our phage-based therapies
through clinical testing."
Venatorx Pharmaceuticals' pipeline includes beta-lactam / beta-lactamase
inhibitors in intravenous and oral formulations that target drug-resistant
gram-negative bacteria. Cefepime-taniborbactam, the company's Phase III
intravenous product, is being developed for the treatment of complicated
urinary tract infections (cUTI), hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia, and
ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia. Recently announced Phase III data
showed that cefepime-taniborbactam was superior to meropenem in the treatment
of cUTI. The AMR Action Fund's investment in Venatorx was executed as part of a
Series C round, with Abingworth Management joining as a co-investor.
"This latest round of investment puts us in a strong position to seek
regulatory approval of cefepime-taniborbactam while also driving forward other
products in our pipeline," said Venatorx Pharmaceuticals' President and CEO,
Chris Burns.
Martin Heidecker, AMR Action Fund's Chief Investment Officer, added, "Our
investments in Adaptive Phage and Venatorx are built on strong partnerships
with co-investors who, like us, see the potential to generate significant value
in companies pursuing novel treatments to drug-resistant infections."
About the AMR Action Fund
The AMR Action Fund is the world's largest public-private partnership investing
in antimicrobial treatments. The Fund will invest US$1 billion into
clinical-stage companies to help bring new antibiotics to market. The concept
was developed by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers &
Associations and its member biopharmaceutical companies, in collaboration with
the World Health Organization, the European Investment Bank, and the Wellcome
Trust. Investors include: Almirall; Amgen; Bayer; Boehringer Ingelheim;
Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation; Chugai; Daiichi-Sankyo; Eisai; Eli Lilly and
Company; the European Investment Bank (with the support of the European
Commission under Horizon 2020, the 2014-2020 European Union research and
innovation program); GlaxoSmithKline; Johnson & Johnson; LEO Pharma; Lundbeck;
Menarini; Merck; Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany; Novartis; Novo Nordisk; Novo
Nordisk Foundation; Pfizer; Roche; Shionogi; Takeda; Teva; UCB; and the
Wellcome Trust
SOURCE: AMR Action Fund
CONTACT: Chris Sweeney, chris.sweeney@amractionfund.com
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