Forge Therapeutics receives 2nd CARB-X award
Forge Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel medicines targeting metalloenzymes, announced that it has received a second CARB-X award for developing a novel antibacterial therapeutic agent. This second award will support the development of a new class of LpxC inhibitors to treat serious lung infections attributed to Gram-negative bacteria, including multi-drug resistant P. aeruginosa. The award commits initial funding up to $5.7M to Forge with the possibility of up to another $5.4M based on the achievement of technical milestones.
“We are gratified to receive this opportunity to expand our collaboration with CARB-X. This second award allows us to evaluate an entirely new class of LpxC inhibitors against drug-resistant superbug infections present in the lung,” said Zachary A. Zimmerman, Ph.D., CEO of Forge. “We look forward to advancing our portfolio of novel antibiotics with continued CARB-X support.”
“The world urgently needs new classes of antibiotics, like those that Forge is developing, as well as other life-saving products to prevent, diagnose and treat deadly infections,” said Kevin Outterson, Executive Director of CARB-X, Boston University law professor and speaker at the AMR conference in Berlin. “Forge’s LpxC inhibitor project represents an exciting new approach to treating life-threatening infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria. The projects in the Powered by CARB-X portfolio are in the early stages of development, but if successful, they offer tremendous potential in the global fight against superbugs.”
CARB-X is providing Forge Therapeutics with up to US$5.7m in non-dilutive funding, with potentially another US$5.4m for milestones. Forge has developed a novel non-hydroxamate LpxC inhibitor which is able to kill Gram-negative superbugs where other antibiotics fail. So far, it has shown considerable promise in animal models.
CARB-X is a Boston University global partnership funded by BARDA, the Wellcome Trust, the UK Department of Health and Social Care’sGlobal Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with in-kind support from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).