Reuters HealthA $1 billion fund backed by over 20 drugmakers made its first set of investments on April 4 in two biotechnology startups, nearly two years after it was launched to help struggling antibiotic makers tackle the threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim partnered with Denmark’s Zealand Pharma A/S to study the GLP-1/glucagon dual agonist BI 456906 in two Phase II trials as a potential treatment for adults who are overweight or obese and for adults with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
None of the 43 antibiotics in development as well as recently approved medicines are enough to combat the increasing emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance, the World Health Organization cautioned on April 15.
Foster City, California-based SutroVax closed on a Series D preferred stock financing worth $110 million, which was co-led by new investors RA Capital Management and Janus Henderson Investors.
Scientists have found multidrug-resistant “superbug” bacteria lurking on cash machines, escalators and handrails in London’s underground rail system, shopping centers and hospitals and say they pose a potential risk to public health.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve Nabriva Therapeutics Plc’s antibiotic for complicated urinary tract infections, even as the United States grapples with the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.
