Carb-X To Fund Intravacc
Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) is awarding US$633k to Intravacc to develop a vaccine that prevents Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacterial infections. Intravacc is a global contract development and manufacturing organisation located at the Utrecht Science Park Bilthoven in the Netherlands. Intravacc is developing vaccines that target a range of diseases, from COVID-19 to meningitis B and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes gonorrhea, the second-most reported bacterial STI. Approximately 82 million adults were infected globally in 2020. Untreated gonorrhea can cause serious complications, including pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, scrotal swelling, urethral stricture, and infertility. It can also lead to an increased risk of contracting HIV. In newborns, untreated gonococcal conjunctivitis – gonorrhea in the eye – can lead to blindness. Since people with gonorrhea do not always exhibit symptoms, reported cases may only capture a fraction of the true health burden.
“Drug-resistant strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae have evaded all but one existing antibiotic (ceftriaxone),” said Erin Duffy, PhD, R&D Chief of CARB-X. “Vaccines are powerful tools in the prevention of bacterial infections. With an appropriate vaccination strategy, Intravacc’s vaccine project, if successful, could prevent the disease, and significantly curb the spread of resistant bacteria across the globe.”
The CARB-X award supports the development of Intravacc’s meningococcal outer membrane vesicle (OMV) vaccine that carries several important gonococcal antigens aimed to prevent infections by Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonococci). Through the tailored gonococcal antigens on the surface of the meningococcal OMV, Intravacc anticipates a significant enhancement in the vaccine candidate’s efficacy against gonorrhea.
“This CARB-X project allows us to combine our science and OMV expertise for the development of a vaccine for gonorrhea infections,” said Jan Groen, PhD, CEO of Intravacc. “We believe the outcome of this vaccine project could be an important contribution to the antimicrobial resistance epidemic.”
An estimated 1.27 million people died due to drug-resistant bacterial infections in 2019, a death toll that exceeded HIV/AIDS (864,000) and malaria (643,000) in that same year. CARB-X is building a pipeline of high-value products to prevent, diagnose and treat bacterial infections that have become resistant to antibiotics. CARB-X emphasizes performance characteristics that patients need against infections driving the greatest global morbidity and mortality.
When CARB-X was founded in 2016, the early-stage antibiotic pipeline was stalled. Since then, CARB-X has supported 93 R&D projects in 12 countries, and CARB-X product developers have made tremendous progress: 18 projects have advanced into or completed clinical trials; 12 remain active in clinical development, including late-stage clinical trials; and two diagnostic products have reached the market. Additionally, at least 9 product developers with active R&D projects have already secured advanced development partnerships which can help support their clinical development after leaving the CARB-X portfolio.
In 2022, CARB-X launched new funding rounds to support R&D projects and fill critical gaps in the antibacterial pipeline. These include oral therapeutics to replace the workhorse antibiotics that are failing; vaccines for neonatal sepsis, which kills 2.5 million infants annually; and oral therapeutics, vaccines and rapid diagnostics for gonorrhea. Intravacc’s vaccine is the second project to receive a CARB-X grant as part of the 2022-2023 funding call. New product developers will be announced this year. Register for the CARB-X newsletter to learn about upcoming funding calls that will be announced in 2024.