Polyphor raises funds to speed up development of antibiotics against priority pathogens

Polyphor — a clinical stage Swiss biopharmaceutical company — has raised CHF 6.8 million from the Novo REPAIR Impact Fund to accelerate the development of novel antibiotics against multi-drug resistant Gram-negative pathogens.

The Novo REPAIR Impact Fund was set up by Novo Holdings A/S earlier in the year (February 2018) as a separate area of business for the company. It is a $165 million fund that is focused on investments in companies and projects aiming at combating antimicrobial resistance, particularly priority pathogens defined by the CDC and WHO.

Through this fund, Novo Holdings has committed to invest CHF 6.8 million in Polyphor, which will be completed via a capital increase where 178,947 new registered shares will be issued at CHF 38 per share from authorised capital.

Additionally, the fund has committed to make a project-based, royalty-bearing investment of CHF 4.7 million in cash at the achievements of predefined milestones of the Outer Membrane Protein Targeting Antibiotics (OMPTA) programme and customary closing conditions.

The novel Polyphor OMPTA antibiotics target the highest priority Gram-negative ESKAPE pathogens, (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa andEnterobacter spp) which are the leading cause of severe and often deadly infections throughout the world. Importantly, this new class of antibiotics is active against strains, which have become resistant to most — and in some cases all — commonly used antibiotics including the ‘last resort’ antibiotic colistin.

“We are proud to announce that our first investment is to accelerate development of a novel therapeutic class, which has the potential to save countless lives,” stated Aleks Engel, director of the Novo REPAIR Impact Fund. “Antimicrobial resistance is projected to kill more people than cancer by 2050, which shows the urgent need for new approaches targeting the most dangerous resistant bacteria.”

“The support of the Novo REPAIR Impact Fund will enable us to accelerate and further advance our preclinical candidates targeting resistant Gram-negative bacteria,” added Giacomo Di Nepi, chief executive officer of Polyphor. “In addition, it represents an important endorsement of our efforts in finding new antibiotics to combat drug resistance, which is one of the biggest threats to global health. We are honoured that the Novo Repair Impact Fund selected our OMPTA program as their first investment and, in this context, by the entry of Novo Holdings A/S in our shareholders’ base."