CARB-X surpasses all goals in first five years
With US$361 million awarded to 92 projects funding, CARB-X closed the fifth fiscal year since inception. In 2021, CARB-X invested in 25 new projects dedicated to tackle AMR in the research areas of preventatives, diagnostics, and therapeutics. The program can look back at a very successful last year with two more graduations from the portfolio, four more First-in Human program launches, and several strategic augmentations of the portfolio, the latter including the addition of the following research areas: gonorrhea, bacteriophage, vaccines, peptides and polymyxins, and anti-virulence factors.
“In our fifth year, we augmented our portfolio along many themes, including non-traditional therapeutics, where we can simultaneously drive individual projects towards meaningful products and answer key questions that unlock value more generally for these new modalities,” said Erin Duffy, PhD, Chief of Research and Development at CARB-X.
CARB-X’s 2020-2021 Annual Report (read the full report here) gives a description of the program’s achievements in more detail. In the last year, CARB-X has continued to fulfill its mission to advance a diverse portfolio of innovative antimicrobials towards clinical development and regulatory approval with funding, expert support and cross-project initiatives.
CARB-X now has 60 active projects in the portfolio, including 19 novel class antibiotics, 16 non-traditional therapeutics, 12 vaccines and preventatives, 12 rapid diagnostics, and one innovative booster to an already existing antibiotic class.
Over the course of five years, almost 1,200 applications were submitted and reviewed from all eight funding rounds. These applications represented innovation from 39 countries on five continents. Furthermore, of the 92 projects that entered the CARB-X portfolio since 2016, 54 invention disclosures were filed – 36 for therapeutics, 6 for preventatives and 12 for diagnostics. Since inception, CARB-X’s portfolio has supported nine projects through Investigational New Drug/IND-equivalent approvals, ten projects in Phase 1 development, of which eight included First-in-Human activities. In total, nine projects have graduated from the portfolio.
“We’ve accomplished so much in just five years and the work continues,” said Kevin Outterson, Executive Director of CARB-X. “As we forge ahead to rapidly and accurately diagnose patients with antibiotic-resistant infections, strengthen our antibiotic arsenal, and prevent infection altogether, it is paramount that we continue to engage with global partnerships to advance the science, and increase access, and promote good stewardship practices.”