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Antabio SAS, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel treatments for severe drug-resistant bacterial infections, announced that it has raised €25m in a series B financing round with subscriptions from the AMR Action Fund, the EIC Fund and from the company’s historical investors including BNP Paribas Développement, Relyens Innovation Santé / Turenne Capital, IRDI Capital Investment and Christophe Ricard, the former President of OM Pharma. This financing expands on the prestigious historical support received by the company through past multi-million-dollar awards from the Wellcome Trust, CARB-X, and ARPEGE.
This Series B will enable the company to complete the phase 2 clinical studies of MEM-ANT3310, a next generation antibacterial combination designed to provide a unique coverage of priority Gram-negative pathogens including OXA-carbapenem-resistantAcinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), KPC- and OXA- carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). MEM-ANT3310 combines the well-known carbapenem meropenem (MEM) with ANT3310, a breakthrough serine-beta-lactamase (SBL) inhibitor developed by Antabio. ANT3310’s innovative structure completely inhibits Class A, Class C and Class D beta-lactamase enzymes and, in combination with MEM, represents a truly differentiated alternative to treat life-threatening infections due to drug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens, including Hospital-Acquired and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (HAP/VAP).
“We are thrilled to welcome the AMR Action Fund and the EIC Fund to Antabio, and grateful to our historical investors for their continued support” said Marc Lemonnier, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Antabio. “Raising such significant funding in historically challenging times for the sector is an outstanding achievement and a testament to our vision, team, and pipeline of innovative products that could offer a lifeline to patients around the world”.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health crisis that was associated with nearly 5 million deaths in 2019 and is recognised as a top priority by the World Health Organisation. It is estimated that 5-10% of hospital patients in US and Europe develop a hospital-acquired (nosocomial) infection. According to recent estimates, AMR now causes more deaths than HIV/AIDS or malaria, and it is predicted to kill more than 10 million people every year by 2050 (more than cancer today).
“Antabio is targeting drug-resistant pathogens that have devastating effects on patients and their families. We believe the therapies in Antabio’s pipeline will deliver significant benefits to patients and be an important tool for physicians, who are struggling to treat infections for which there are few effective treatments available,” AMR Action Fund CEO Henry Skinner said. “Antimicrobial resistance harms patients everywhere, and it is essential that academia, entrepreneurs, industry, governments, and intergovernmental organizations work together at the global level to incentivise solutions to the AMR crisis.”