Germany joins CARB-X partnership in the fight against deadly drug-resistant superbugs

CARB-X announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to invest €39 million over four years in the early development of antibiotics, vaccines, and diagnostics to combat drug-resistant bacteria. Under the agreement, BMBF will also provide an additional €1 million in direct support to a consortium of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), the Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedicines (PEI) and the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), which is joining the CARB-X Global Accelerator Network, a network of 10 accelerators around the world to support CARB-X funded projects. CARB-X is a global non-profit partnership housed at Boston University.

Germany joins CARB-X funders and global leaders in the fight against superbugs: the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the US Department of Health and Human Services‘ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), the Wellcome Trust, a global charity based in the UK working to improve health globally, the UK Government’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund (UK GAMRIF), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and with in-kind support, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

New antibacterial products are urgently needed. Drug-resistant infections kill an estimated 700,000 people worldwide each year, including an estimated 33,000 in Europe and 23,000 in the United States. If drug resistance continues to grow at current rates, deaths are expected to rise significantly within a generation.

Kevin Outterson, Executive Director of CARB-X, said: “We are deeply grateful and honored that the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is joining the CARB-X partnership, building on outstanding leadership from the US Government (BARDA and NIAID), the Wellcome Trust, the UK Government (GAMRIF) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Drug resistance is one of the most urgent public-health and health-security threats facing the world today. We need political and scientific leadership, vision and sustained effort to win the race against superbugs.” Outterson made the announcement while attending the 12th Berlin Conference on Life Sciences – Novel Antimicrobials and AMR Diagnostics 2019.

German Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek said: “The growing number of pathogens being no longer responsive to lifesaving therapies puts the life of millions of people worldwide at risk. Resistant pathogens spread globally. Thus, combatting them takes joint international collaborative actions, such as CARB-X. This is why the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research will support CARB-X with up to €40 million. The investment in CARB-X is part of an overall €500 million R&D budget Germany will contribute in the next 10 years to the fight against antimicrobial resistance. I am particularly glad that CARB-X has chosen Germany to host a new CARB-X Accelerator, extending the worldwide network of already existing CARB-X Global Accelerators.”

Dr. Tim Jinks, Head of Wellcome’s drug resistant infections programme, said: “Developing new antibiotics, diagnostics and vaccines to tackle the rising threat of drug-resistant superbugs is critical, and support for innovators has not been sufficient to deliver an adequate pipeline of much-needed tools. Germany has stepped up to play a leading role in global health and it is encouraging to see their strengthened commitment to tackling the threat of superbugs through the new funding for CARB-X. We at Wellcome look forward to working with the German government to continue to support the companies who are bringing some much needed innovation to this urgent health challenge.”

“At BARDA, we know the strength and success that can be achieved through public-private partnerships, and we are delighted to welcome our new partners and accelerator in Germany,” BARDA Director Rick Bright, PH.D., said. “Together, we can drive the innovation that is so urgently needed to save lives. We encourage other countries and funders to join CARB-X to advance the critical medicines and products to protect global health and improve health security.”

Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England said: “Drug-resistant infections claim the lives of hundreds of thousands of people globally – a collaborative, international response is required if the problem is to be tackled. By working across borders, the CARB-X partnership allows for innovative research and development to address this complex and global issue. I am delighted the German government has joined the partnership, supporting an exciting range of projects developing antibiotics, vaccines and diagnostics to combat drug-resistant infections.”

Under the agreement, BMBF supports the full scope of CARB-X’s mission to support research and development projects of companies and scientific institutions worldwide to combat antibiotic resistance. BMBF will sit on CARB-X’s governing board, the Joint Oversight Committee, which establishes funding strategies and makes investment decisions based on recommendations from the CARB-X Advisory Board.

The partnership agreement is effective January 1, 2019. Germany’s decision to invest millions in antibacterial research through CARB-X was first highlighted last fall by Minister Karliczek in her opening address at the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting in Berlin, a global conference on strengthening global health through international cooperation. The partnership agreement with CARB-X was finalized earlier this month.

Partnering to drive antibacterial innovation globally
With the BMBF partnership, CARB-X now has up to €480 million (US$550 million) to help accelerate antibacterial innovation around the world. Launched in 2016, CARB-X funds and supports the world’s largest, most diverse and rapidly growing portfolio of products under development to address serious life-threatening drug resistant bacteria. There are currently 35 projects in the portfolio in 6 countries. Since it was established in 2016, CARB-X has announced awards exceeding US$110.8 million, plus additional funds if project milestones are met, to accelerate the development of antibacterial products. These funds are in addition to investments made by the companies themselves. The CARB-X pipeline will continuously evolve, as projects progress and others fail for a variety of reasons. In total since it was established, CARB-X has announced awards for 42 research projects.

The goal of CARB-X investments in early development research projects is to support projects through the early phases of development and through Phase 1, so that they will attract additional private or public support for further clinical development and approval for use in patients. The scope of CARB-X funding is restricted to projects that target drug-resistant bacteria highlighted on the CDC’s 2013 Antibiotic Resistant Threats list, or the Priority Bacterial Pathogens list published by the WHO in 2017 – with a priority on those pathogens deemed Serious or Urgent on the CDC list or Critical or High on the WHO list.