Basilea receives grant for novel antibiotic

The public-private consortium CARB-X led by the University of Boston grants funding for the development of medicines to diagnose, prevent and treat drug-resistant bacteria. Now CARB-X has granted Basilea 2.7 million US dollars of funding according to a press release from the Basel-based pharmaceutical company. Basilea is already running a support program to develop an antibiotic from a novel active substance class to treat infections by drug-resistant, Gram-negative bacteria.

Laurenz Kellenberger, Chief Scientific Officer at Basilea, is quoted in the press release saying: “The medical problem of antimicrobial resistance keeps increasing.” The company develops drugs to treat cancer and infections. From summer 2022, it will be settled in the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area Main Campus in Allschwil in the canton of Basel-Landschaft. The new innovation campus is currently being built and upon completion will become the main campus of the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area run by Basel Area Business & Innovation. With the program being newly funded by CARB-X, Basilea is also pursuing a new approach.

As such, Basilea plans to develop an inhibitor for the DXR enzyme. This enzyme is needed by some Gram-negative bacteria that the World Health Organisation has classed as dangerous “priority pathogens”. Kellenberger adds: “We are delighted to be partnering with CARB-X for the development of truly innovative antibiotics directed against this unexploited bacterial target. Basilea remains committed to leverage its proven ability in the discovery, development and commercialization of novel anti-infectives to deliver new treatment options to patients facing bacterial drug-resistance worldwide.”