CARB-X backs Summit Therapeutics with up to $4.1m

CARB-X backs Summit Therapeutics with up to $4.1m

  • 18/05/2021

Up to $4.1 million in non-dilutive funding are being awarded by CARB-X to UK-based Summit Therapeutics.

The capital is provided for the development of first-in-class antibiotics against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections including those caused by serious human pathogens such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Given that project milestones are reached, Summit could even be granted additional funding of up to $3.7 million from the same source.

“The world urgently needs innovative therapeutics to address life-threatening pathogens that are constantly developing new ways of resisting the effects of antibiotics that are designed to kill them,” said Erin Duffy, R&D Chief of CARB-X, a non-profit global partnership led by Boston University and dedicated to supporting the development of innovative antibiotics, vaccines, diagnostics and other life-saving products to address antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. “Summit’s SMT-738 represents a novel class that has a new mechanism of inhibition of bacterial cell membrane biosynthesis. These degrees of novelty combine to offer a potential advantage where antibiotic resistance is concerned.”

“Our mission at Summit is to create patient- and societal-friendly medicinal therapies that improve the quality and duration of patients’ lives, while resolving serious unmet needs,” said Robert W. Duggan, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Summit. “SMT-738 has the potential to save the lives of patients, as yet with untreatable infections through a novel drug class with a low propensity for resistance development. We are excited and optimistic to take on the real challenge of antibiotic resistance and are grateful to CARB-X for partnering with us in support of this important mission.”

You’ll find more information here: https://carb-x.org/carb-x-news/carb-x-is-funding-summit-therapeutics-to-develop-a-new-antibiotic-to-treat-multidrug-resistant-infections-caused-by-carbapenem-resistant-enterobacteriaceae-cre/