AMR Action Fund invests in new antibiotics developed by BioVersys

BioVersys is the first European company to receive funding for its clinical trials from the AMR Action Fund. According to a press release, the AMR Action Fund is the world’s largest public-private partnership for investments in biotechnology companies and is seeking to facilitate the market launch of two to four antimicrobials by 2030. To this end, the fund is now placing its faith in BioVersys and joined a significantly oversubscribed Series C financing round carried out by the Basel-based firm. In the process, BioVersys generated gross proceeds of 32.6 million Swiss francs, further details of which can be found in a press release of its own.

The clinical phase biotechnology company is a spin-off from the Basel-based Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH). The company is headquartered at Tech Park Basel and develops antimicrobials that target some of the world’s most threatening drug-resistant bacteria. According to Dr. Marc Gitzinger, CEO and founder of BioVersys AG, the AMR Action Fund will be “a valuable partner as we advance our programs into Phase 2 clinical trials and beyond so that these treatments can reach patients as soon as possible”.

AMR Action Fund’s European headquarters in Basel

“The candidates in its pipeline have the potential to significantly improve care for patients suffering from intractable infections for which there are few, if any, effective treatments”, comments Dr. Martin Heidecker, Chief Investment Officer of the AMR Action Fund, in the press release. “We are eager to work with the BioVersys team to help bring these therapeutics to patients”, he adds.

The concept of the AMR Action Fund, founded in 2020 and headquartered in Boston, with European headquarters in Basel, was developed by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations and its biopharmaceutical member firms in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Wellcome Trust. The AMR Action Fund has 1 billion US dollars of venture capital at its disposal.