CARB-X Awards INHIBRx up to $4.55M to Accelerate the Development of a Novel Antibody

CARB-X portfolio now has 21 early development projects aimed at treating life-threatening bacterial infections and battling the growing global threat of drug-resistance.

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CARB-X announced today that it is supporting Inhibrx in the development of a new antibody designed to prevent and treat infections caused by Pseudomonas, a difficult-to-treat family of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens often found in hospital and health-care settings. Inhibrx will receive an initial award of up to $4.55M, with the possibility of $1.49M more from CARB-X based on the achievement of certain milestones. The CARB-X award will support Inhibrx’s lead program, INBRX-111, currently in the pre-clinical phase of development.

“The Inhibrx project enriches the diversity of the CARB-X pipeline with an approach that has the potential to prevent or treat drug-resistant infections, like Pseudomonas, and save lives,” said Kevin Outterson, BU Law professor and executive director of CARB-X, the world’s leading non-profit partnership dedicated to accelerating the development of antibiotics, vaccines, diagnostics and other products to treat drug-resistant bacterial infections. “The projects in the Powered by CARB-X portfolio are in the early stages of research, and there is always a high risk of failure. But if successful, these projects, including Inhibrx’s antibody project, hold exciting potential in the fight against the deadliest antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

“The need for new therapeutics to solve the antibiotic resistance epidemic is urgent as well as the need for novel funding mechanisms to support research, development, and commercialization,” said Mark Lappe, CEO of Inhibrx, a La Jolla, California-based company.  “Inhibrx is committed to addressing the global health threat of antibiotic resistance with multiple efforts addressing priority list pathogens.  With this non-dilutive award from CARB-X, we look forward to rapidly advancing INBRX-111 through Phase 1 with the goal of providing a novel option for patients with or at high risk for drug-resistant Pseudomonas infections.”

Pseudomonas infection is caused by bacteria found widely in the environment; the most common type causing infections in humans is called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These infections often occur in people with weakened immune systems. and are becoming increasingly difficult to treat because of antibiotic resistance. These infections of the blood, pneumonia, urinary tract and infections following surgery can lead to severe illness and death.

The broad range of drug-resistant infections, including multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas, currently causes an estimated 700,000 deaths worldwide annually, according to the World Health Organization. In the US alone, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 23,000 people die each year from drug-resistant bacterial infections.

The Powered by CARB-X portfolio is the world’s largest portfolio of early development products to treat the most serious drug-resistant bacterial infections. CARB-X, which stands for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, was launched in July 2016. It currently funds projects in 6 countries and is working to expand its pipeline with outstanding science from around the world.

CARB-X is a partnership between the UK charity Wellcome Trust and the US Department of Health and Human Services Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). CARB-X is actively seeking global support from other governments, industry and civil society to expand its ability to fund the best science around the world to get the new life-saving treatments so urgently needed.

The funding is part of an overall commitment of up to US$455M by the US government and Wellcome Trust over a five-year period from 2016-2021. So far this year, including the Inhibrx project, CARB-X has announced $51.93M to fund 21 projects plus an additional $63.85M if project milestones are met. These funds are in addition to the companies’ own investments in their projects. Responsible use of existing antibiotics and equitable access, particularly in low-income countries where the need is greatest, is also vital to address the global health problem. Both are a condition of CARB-X funding.

BARDA’s Director Rick Bright, PhD, said: “The support announced today aims to speed development of a potential new antibacterial product to treat patients with life-threatening infections and enhance national security and global health preparedness. At BARDA, we are committed to revitalizing the antibacterial pipeline through a combination of incentives. Today’s announcement is another example of our commitment to promote and accelerate medical countermeasure innovation through novel public-private partnerships like CARB-X.”

Tim Jinks, head of drug-resistant infections at Wellcome Trust, said: “Wellcome is committed to addressing this urgent global health threat. With drug-resistant infections spreading rapidly it’s vital we speed discovery of new and innovative treatments. The addition of this exciting project to the CARB-X portfolio is another important step in achieving this. Drug discovery must also go hand-in-hand with concerted action to ensure responsible use of antibiotics and availability of existing and new treatments for patients in all countries.”

CARB-X’s role is to identify and fund promising early research in antibiotics, vaccines, rapid diagnostics, devices and alternative approaches to prevent, diagnose and treat the most serious drug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections. Projects funded by CARB-X receive non-dilutive funding as well as drug development and business support services. It is in the early phases of research that most projects are abandoned often because of lack of funding. The goal is to progress these Powered by CARB-X projects to a stage where they may attract additional private or public support for clinical development.

The last new class of antibiotics approved for treatment against Gram-negative bacteria was discovered in 1962. Antibiotic discovery is challenging because bacteria are able to genetically modify and become resistant to medicines. As well, large pharmaceutical companies have significantly scaled back investment in antibiotic research in the past decades because it has not been sufficiently profitable.

CARB-X expects to make further funding announcements later this year.

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CARB-X Awards INHIBRx up to $4.55M to Accelerate the Development of a Novel Antibody

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