Basel, Switzerland, May 05, 2020. 09:00 CET
The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) has today announced an agreement with Swiss biopharmaceutical company BioVersys to explore opportunities to accelerate the research and development of antibiotics for serious bacterial infections.
The Memorandum of Understanding includes supporting BioVersys in the preparation of a paediatric investigational plan (PIP) aimed at ensuring that BioVersys generates the necessary evidence to support the authorisation of the antibiotic BV100 for paediatric populations. BV100 is a narrow spectrum antibiotic being developed for the treatment of multidrug-resistant hospital-acquired infections. The BV100 compound, which has received Qualified Infectious Disease Product designation from the U.S. FDA, has demonstrated exceptional in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activity on multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. Carbapenem resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is listed as an urgent threat by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and as critical on the World Health Organization priority pathogen list. CRAB-associated mortality in pneumonia is unacceptably high (≥ 50%) and there are few drugs in development for this unmet medical need.
“This Memorandum of Understanding with BioVersys is an important opportunity to explore synergies in the development of treatments for serious bacterial infections in children, in particular those caused by priority pathogens such as Acinetobacter baumannii,” said Seamus O’Brien, Research and Development Director of GARDP.
Marc Gitzinger, CEO and founder of BioVersys said: “We are delighted to enter into this collaboration with GARDP as it underlines BioVersys’ commitment to deliver novel therapies addressing the unmet medical need of antimicrobial resistance. With the support of GARDP, we will start to plan for the evaluation of BV100 for use in children.”
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